• 


UNIVERSITY  OF  N.C.  AT  CHAPEL  HILL 


00022245394 


THE  LIBRARY  OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF 

NORTH  CAROLINA 


From  the  Library  of 


< 


Elizabeth  Morton  Johnston 
Patterson 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2012  with  funding  from 

University  of  North  Carolina  at  Chapel  Hill 


http://www.archive.org/details/ontrailofwashinghill 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF 
WASHINGTON 


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WASHINGTON  BRINGING   A  GUN   INTO  ACTION  AT  THE  MONONGAHELA 

AMBUSH. 


July  9,   1755. 


IN? 


TRADE 


ON  THE  TRAIL  OF 
WASHINGTON 

A  NAREATIVE  HISTOEY  OF  WASHINGTON'S  BOYHOOD 

AND  MANHOOD,  BASED  ON  HIS  OWN  WEITINGS, 

AUTHENTIC    DOCUMENTS    AND    OTHEE 

AUTHOEITATIVE  INFOEMATION 


BY 


FREDERICK  TREVOR   HILL 

AUTHOR  OP   "LINCOLN  THE  LAWYER," 
"THE  STORY  OF  A   STREET,"   ETC. 


ILLUSTRATIONS   IN   COLOR   BY  ARTHUR   E.  BECHER 


NEW    YORK    AND    LONDON 

D.    APPLETON    AND    COMPANY 

1927 


Copyright,  1910,  bt 
D.  APPLETON  AND  COMPANY 


Printed  in  the  United  States  of  America 


677983  _  .  ~         I  ,.  zv  ?<t 


TO 

- 

*  MY    OLD    COMRADE 

v. 

TREVOR 


O' 


FOREWORD 


For  more  than  a  century  Washington  was 
exalted  as  a  model  of  manners  and  morals — 
and  portrayed  as  a  prig;  he  was  idealized  as 
a  hero — and  rendered  unreal ;  he  was  glorified 
as  the  father  of  his  country — and  denied  all 
human  fellowship  with  his  kin;  he  was  in- 
vested with  every  virtue — and  divested  of  all 
virile  character.  That  he  survived  in  the  af- 
fections of  his  people  is  the  best  demonstra- 
tion of  his  true  greatness. 

Of  recent  years,  however,  there  has  been 
a  notable  effort  to  depict  the  man  as  he  real- 
ly was — a  man  with  good  red  blood  in  his 
veins,  good  common  sense  in  his  head,  good 
kindly  feeling  in  his  heart,  and  a  good  honest 
laugh. 

This  humanizing  of  Washington  has  been 
the  work  of  eminent  editors,  historians,  and 

vii 


ON   THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

collectors,  and  their  investigations  during  the 
past  twenty  years  have  virtually  revealed 
Washington  to  Americans  for  the  first  time. 
They  have  winnowed  the  traditions  from  the 
facts,  exposed  the  myths,  frauds,  and  forgeries 
associated  with  his  name,  clarified  his  military 
movements,  and  justified,  if  not  necessitated, 
the  rewriting  of  much  of  our  early  history.  It 
is  no  longer  true  that  Washington  is  "  only  a 
steel  engraving."  Yet  little  of  this  valuable 
information  has  been  brought  home  to  the 
general  reader  and  still  less  of  it  has  reached 
the  younger  generation. 

It  is  to  place  before  such  readers,  young 
and  old,  the  results  of  this  modern  research 
that  the  writer  retells  the  story  of  Washing- 
ton in  these  pages,  and  to  the  distinguished 
authorities  upon  whom  he  has  relied  he  here- 
with makes  grateful  acknowledgment.  Par- 
ticularly is  he  indebted  to  Mr.  Samuel  Palmer 
Griffin  for  his  scholarly  sifting  of  the  great 
mass  of  material  forming  the  basis  of  this  vol- 
ume and  for  his  careful  revision  of  the  text. 

Washington  was  not  always  as  old  as  the 
viii 


FOREWORD 

Gilbert  Stuart  portraits  indicate,  nor  did  he 
fight  his  battles  in  a  powdered  wig ;  the  writer 
accordingly  begs  to  express  his  thanks  to  the 
illustrator,  Mr.  Arthur  Becher,  whose  con- 
scientious study  has  enabled  him  to  combine 
artistic  values  with  minute  historic  detail  and 
to  disregard  all  traditions  which  are  not  firm- 
ly grounded  in  well-authenticated  facts. 

Frederick  Trevor  Hill. 
New  Yobk. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

I. — Plantation  Playgrounds 1 

II. — School  Days 7 

III. — Surveying  and  Sportsmanship     ....  23 

IV. — A  First  Opportunity 30 

V. — Earning  a  Living 37 

VI. — A  Dangerous  Mission 42 

VII. — Adventures  in  a  Wilderness      ....  51 

VIII.— Baptism  of  Fire 57 

IX. — The  Battle  of  Monongahela      ....  64 

X. — The  Commander  of  Virginia's  Army         .        .  74 

XL — Plantation  Days 81 

XII.— War  Clouds 88 

XIII. — The  Commander-in-Chief       .       .       .       .       .97 

XIV. — In  the  Face  of  Disaster 107 

XV. — Fighting  for  Position 115 

XVI.— A  Race  for  Life 123 

XVII. — With  His  Back  to  the  Wall      ....  130 

XVIII.— The  Christmas  Party 135 

XIX. — Cornered  but  Not  Caught 141 

XX. — A  Game  of  Strategy 148 

XXI. — The  Battle  of  Brandywine        ....  154 

XXII.— A  Fight  in  a  Fog 160 

xi 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

XXIII. — A  Struggle  for  Existence       ....  170 

XXIV.— The  Hunter  Hunted 183 

XXV. — Disappointments  and  Defeats         .       .        .  192 

XXVI.— A  Desperate  Peril 200 

XXVII. — The  Campaign  Against  Yorktown         .       .  215 

XXVIIL— Home  Triumphs 229 

XXIX. — Peace  and  Public  Service        ....  242 

XXX.— The  President 256 

XXXI.— Mount  Vernon 265 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTKATIONS 


ILLUSTRATIONS  IN  COLOR 


FACING 
PAGE 


Washington  bringing  a  gun  into  action  at  the  Monongahela 

ambush Frontispiece 

July  9,  1755. 

Washington  working  as  a  surveyor  at  sixteen  years  of  age  .     34 

March-April,  1748. 

Washington's  first  meeting  with  Alexander  Hamilton  .         .118 

Harlem  Heights,  September  15,  1776. 

Washington  and  his  staff  following  a  guide  across  country 

at  the  Battle  of  Brandy  wine 158 

September  11,  1777. 

Washington  rallying  the  troops  at  the  Battle  of  Monmouth    188 

June  28,  1778. 

Washington  at  Mount  Vernon  after  the  Revolution     .       .  244 


ILLUSTRATIONS  IN  THE  TEXT 

PAGE 

Fly  leaf  of  the  family  Bible,  showing  record  of  Washing- 
ton's birth  written  by  him  while  a  boy    ....       3 

(From  the  original  in  the  possession  of  Mrs.  Lewis  Washington, 
of  Charleston,  W.  Va.) 

Earliest-known  signatures  of  Washington  scrawled  at  the 
age  of  about  eight  across  the  fly  leaf  of  a  book  of  ser- 
mons       9 

(From  the  original  in  possession  of  the  Boston  Athenaeum.) 

xiii 


ILLUSTRATIONS   IN   THE   TEXT 

PAGE 

Page  of  an  exercise  book,  showing  some  of  the  "Rules  of 
Civility/'  written  by  Washington  from  dictation  in 
school 14 

(From  the  original  in  the  Department  of  State.) 

Fly  leaf  of  one  of  Washington's  school  books,  showing  his 

signature  at  the  age  of  ten 18 

(From  the  collection  of  George  Arthur  Plimpton,  Esq.) 

Copy  of  penmanship  by  which  Washington's  handwriting 

was  formed 19 

(From  the  collection  of  George  Arthur  Plimpton,  Esq.) 

Survey  of  Mount  Vernon  made  by  Washington  when  about 

fourteen 25 

(From  the  original  in  the  Department  of  State.) 

Washington's  headquarters  at  Valley  Forge  as  existing  in 

1909 174 

(From  a  sketch  by  Jonathan  Ring.) 

Monument  marking  spot  where  Andre  was  captured  near 

Tarrytown,  N.  Y 209 

(From  a  sketch  by  Jonathan  Ring.) 

Rochambeau's  headquarters  near  Ardsley,  N.  Y.,  as  existing 

in  1909 222 

(From  a  sketch  by  Jonathan  Ring.) 

Washington's  headquarters  at  Newburg,  N.  Y.,  as  existing 

in  1909 236 

(From  a  sketch  by  Jonathan  Ring.) 

"The  long  room"  in  Fraunces's  Tavern,  New  York  City, 
where  Washington  bade  farewell  to  his  officers,  as  ex- 
isting in  1909 238 

(From  a  sketch  by  Jonathan  Ring.) 

Hunting  horn  presented  to  Washington  by  Lafayette  .       .  252 

(Drawn  from  the  original  at  Mount  Vernon.) 


ON  THE  TRAIL  OF 
WASHINGTON 


CHAPTER   I 

PLANTATION"  PLAYGROUNDS 

Washington  was  a  born  and  bred  country 
boy.  His  father,  Augustine  Washington, 
owned  three  farms  or  plantations,  not  far  dis- 
tant from  each  other  in  Virginia,  and  on  one 
of  them  (which  was  later  called  "  Wake- 
field ")  Washington  was  born  on  February 
22,  1732. 

The  farmhouse  which  his  family  then  occu- 
pied was  a  queer  little  two-storied  structure, 
with  a  steep,  sloping  roof,  two  big  chim- 
neys, four  rooms  on  the  ground  floor  and  per- 
haps as  many  more  in  the  attic.  It  was  built 
close  to  the  Potomac  River,  between  two 
streams  known,  respectively,  as  Bridge's 
Creek  and  Pope's  Creek,  and  all  around  it  lay 
tobacco  and  corn  fields  fringed  with  forests. 
In  later  years  this  place  became  very  familiar 

1 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

to  the  boy,  but  while  he  was  still  a  mere  baby 
his  family  moved  to  another  of  his  father's 
farms  farther  up  the  Potomac,  and  here  he 
lived  until  he  was  nearly  eight  years  old. 

This  plantation  was  then  known  as  Epse- 
wasson  or  Hunting  Creek,  and  it  was  well 
named,  for  the  surrounding  woods  were  full  of 
quail,  grouse,  wild  turkeys,  foxes,  and  deer, 
and  the  creeks  and  rivers  were  fairly  alive 
with  fish.  Indeed,  the  whole  country  was  fa- 
mous for  its  game,  and  from  the  Indians  who 
lived  in  the  neighboring  forests  Washington 
undoubtedly  learned  something  about  shoot- 
ing and  fishing,  for  they  were  experts  with  the 
rod  and  gun,  and  knew  far  more  about  the 
habits  of  wild  animals  and  fish  than  any  of 
the  white  men.  But  fond  as  he  was  of  such 
sport,  the  boy  was  still  fonder  of  horses,  and  he 
probably  never  remembered  the  time  when  he 
first  sat  astride  of  a  pony.  Certainly  he  began 
learning  to  ride  at  a  very  early  age  and  he  had 
no  lack  of  good  instructors,  for  Virginians, 
then  as  now,  prided  themselves  on  their  horse- 
manship, and  most  of  the  planters  were  in  the 
saddle  from  morning  till  night. 

Altogether,  the  farm  on  Hunting  Creek 
was  a  delightful  spot  for  a  lad  like  Washing- 

2 


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jr.      -      £ 


FLY  LEAF  OF  THE  FAMILY  BIBLE,  SHOWING  RECORD  OF  WASHINGTON  S 
BIRTH   WRITTEN   BY   HIM   WHILE   A   BOY. 

(From  the  original  in  the  possession  of  Mrs.  Lewis  Washington,  of  Charleston, 

W.  Va.) 

Free  F  '  '  N' jl 


PLANTATION   PLAYGROUNDS 

ton  who  loved  sport  and  adventure,  but  it 
would  have  been  a  bit  lonely  had  it  not  been 
for  his  brothers  and  sisters,  as  the  nearest 
house  was  far  away  and  there  were  no  schools 
or  common  meeting  places  for  children.  For- 
tunately, however,  there  was  plenty  of  com- 
radeship right  in  the  family  circle,  for  "Wash- 
ington had  a  sister  and  a  brother  old  enough 
to  be  very  companionable,  and  two  still 
younger  brothers  who  later  proved  excellent 
playmates.  Moreover,  in  the  negro  quarters 
there  were  a  number  of  boys  and  girls  who 
were  allowed  to  join  the  white  children  in  all 
their  games,  and  for  five  years  the  woods 
about  the  plantation,  which  was  later  named 
"  Mount  Vernon, "  echoed  with  the  shouts  and 
laughter  of  a  very  merry  company  of  young- 
sters. Then  one  day  the  house  burned  down 
and  the  family  moved  to  another  farm  on  the 
Rappahannock  River,  almost  directly  oppo- 
site the  little  town  of  Fredericksburg. 

This  plantation,  sometimes  called  the 
"  Ferry  Farm,"  closely  resembled  the  others. 
The  house  was  a  small,  plain,  wooden  build- 
ing, very  simply  but  strongly  constructed  and 
painted  a  dark  red.  Around  it  lay  tobacco, 
wheat,  and  corn  fields,  bordered,  as  at  the  other 

5 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF   WASHINGTON 

homes,  with  inviting  and  more  or  less  mysteri- 
ous woods.  Until  he  arrived  there  Washing- 
ton had  been  allowed  to  run  free,  without 
schooling  of  any  kind,  and  it  is  doubtful  if  he 
then  knew  even  his  letters,  although  he  was 
already  in  his  eighth  year. 

He  had,  however,  learned  much  that  is  not 
taught  in  books.  He  knew  how  to  take  care 
of  himself  in  the  open,  how  to  make  friends 
with  horses  and  dogs,  how  to  ride  and  fish  and 
swim,  how  to  lay  out  camps  and  build  camp 
fires,  how  to  recognize  the  tracks  of  wild 
animals,  how  to  blaze  or  mark  a  trail — all  the 
thousand  and  one  things  which  a  quick-witted, 
out-of-doors  boy  learns  from  country  life. 
Best  of  all,  he  had  grown  tall  and  strong  and 
hardy  from  his  life  in  the  open  air,  storing  up 
strength  and  health  for  the  time  when  steady 
nerves  and  a  sound  body  were  essential  for  the 
work  he  had  to  do,  and  with  these  advantages 
his  schoolboy  days  began. 


CHAPTER   II 

SCHOOL  DAYS 

Washington's  first  school  was  not  much 
more  than  a  hut  in  the  woods,  in  charge  of  a 
schoolmaster  who  knew  very  little  more  than 
his  pupils.  In  those  days  it  was  difficult  to 
procure  good  teachers  in  Virginia,  and  the  in- 
structor selected  for  this  "  old  field  school," 
as  it  was  called,  was  a  man  known  as  Hobby, 
who  had  been  transported  from  England  as  a 
punishment  for  some  minor  offense  against 
the  laws.  Such  men  were  usually  sold  for  a 
term  of  years  to  residents  of  the  colonies,  and 
Hobby  was  apparently  bought  by  Washing- 
ton's father  or  one  of  his  neighbors,  who  made 
him  sexton  of  the  local  chapel  and  utilized  his 
small  store  of  knowledge  for  the  benefit  of  the 
children.  How  much  Washington  learned 
from  this  queer  schoolmaster  is  not  positively 
known,  but  it  is  certain  that  he  was  soon 
taught  to  write,  for  he  scrawled  his  name  all 

7 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

over  a  volume  of  sermons  when  he  was  eight 
or  nine  years  old,  and  that  book,  with  his  boy- 
ish signatures,  can  be  seen  to-day  in  one  of  the 
Boston  libraries.  Indeed,  Washington,  like  a 
great  many  other  boys,  was  rather  fond  of 
scribbling,  and  some  of  his  books  which  have 
been  preserved  are  said  to  be  liberally  adorned 
with  pictures  of  birds,  animals,  people,  and 
other  drawings  worthy  of  the  most  incorri- 
gible "  Goop." 

Hobby  claimed  in  later  years  that  his  fa- 
mous pupil  acquired  the  best  of  his  education 
in  the  little  cabin  schoolhouse,  but  it  is  certain 
that  the  most  valuable  things  the  boy  learned 
in  those  early  years  he  owed  to  his  father  and 
mother.  They  brought  him  up  strictly  but 
sensibly,  teaching  him  the  importance  of 
sharp  obedience,  manliness,  courage,  and 
honor,  and  otherwise  laying  the  real  founda- 
tions of  his  character ;  but  most  of  the  stories 
concerning  his  boyhood,  such  as  the  one  about 
the  cherry  tree  and  the  hatchet,  are  sheer  non- 
sense. For  many  years  his  family  had  occu- 
pied a  prominent  place  in  Virginia,  and  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Washington  took  a  proper  pride  in 
training  their  children  to  uphold  its  best  tra- 
ditions, and  in  this  they  succeeded.     Unfor- 


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EARLIEST-KNOWN  SIGNATURES  OF  WASHINGTON  SCRAWLED  AT  THE 
AGE  OF  ABOUT  EIGHT  ACROSS  THE  FLY  LEAF  OF  A  BOOK  OF 
SERMONS. 

(From  the  original  in  possession  of  the  Boston  Athenseum.) 


SCHOOL   DAYS 

tunately  for  Washington  his  father  died  when 
he  was  only  eleven,  but  his  mother  proved  a 
wise  friend  and  counselor,  and  shortly  after 
her  husband's  death  she  sent  him  to  an  excel- 
lent school  kept  by  a  Mr.  Williams  near 
"  Wakefield." 

It  was  not  books  or  book  learning,  how- 
ever, that  made  the  deepest  impression  upon 
the  maturing  mind  of  the  boy,  but  rather  his 
association  with  his  half-brothers,  Augustine 
and  Lawrence.  Up  to  this  time  he  had  seen 
very  little  of  these  young  men,  for  they  had 
been  at  school  in  England  for  several  years,, 
and  after  their  return  the  elder,  Lawrence, 
had  been  made  a  captain  in  the  English  army 
and  had  gone  to  the  West  Indies,  where  he  had 
taken  an  active  part  in  the  campaign  against 
the  Spaniards,  while  Augustine  had  settled  as 
a  planter  on  the  "  Wakefield  "  farm.  After 
his  father's  death,  however,  Washington  was 
constantly  in  their  company,  and  the  two 
brothers  took  a  great  fancy  to  him.  He  was 
then  a  bright,  promising  lad,  rather  large  for 
his  age,  fond  of  all  outdoor  games,  and  an  ex- 
ceptionally good  horseman.  Moreover,  he  was 
a  good  shot,  a  daring  huntsman,  and  a  keen 
woodsman,  ready  for  any  sort  of  sport  or 

11 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

adventure,  and  it  is  no  wonder  that  Lawrence 
and  Augustine  Washington  took  delight  in  his 
companionship.  Both  of  them  were  educated, 
honorable  men  who  had  seen  more  of  the  world 
than  most  Virginians,  and  it  was  fortunate  for 
Washington  that  he  had  their  guidance  and 
advice  at  this  period  of  his  career.  Doubtless 
they  were  proud  of  his  manly  accomplish- 
ments and  encouraged  them,  but  they  also 
showed  him  that  he  was  expected  to  be  some- 
thing better  than  a  horse  trainer  or  a  hunter, 
and  set  him  an  excellent  example  of  useful 
work  and  decent  living. 

Captain  Lawrence  Washington  exerted  a 
particularly  strong  influence  in  molding  his 
young  kinsman  into  a  gentleman,  and  some  of 
the  happiest  hours  that  the  lad  ever  knew  were 
passed  at  the  plantation  on  Hunting  Creek, 
which  Lawrence  had  inherited  from  his 
father,  and  which  he  had  named  "  Mount 
Vernon  "  in  honor  of  Admiral  Vernon  with 
whom  he  had  served  in  the  Spanish  war. 
Here  Washington  became  acquainted  with 
many  of  his  brother's  comrades  in  arms,  and 
here  he  frequently  met  officers  of  the  Royal 
Navy  and  of  the  big  merchant  ships  which 
sailed  into  the  Potomac,  and  listened  to  many 

12 


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.TiMiTi.    ■«!    1? 


PAGE  OF  AN  EXERCISE  BOOK,  SHOWING  SOME  OF  THE  "RULES  OF 
CIVILITY"  WRITTEN  BY  WASHINGTON  FROM  DICTATION  IN 
SCHOOL. 

(From  the  original  in  the  Department  of  State.) 


SCHOOL   DAYS 

a  story  of  adventure  on  land  and  sea.  Under 
such  circumstances  it  is  not  at  all  surprising 
that  he  soon  began  to  think  he  would  like  to  be 
a  sailor,  and  had  his  mother  not  interfered 
he  would  certainly  have  gone  to  sea  at  the  age 
of  fourteen,  for  Captain  Lawrence  encour- 
aged the  idea  and  actually  took  some  steps  to 
procure  him  a  suitable  commission.  Fortu- 
nately, however,  Mrs.  Washington,  whose 
brother  had  written  her  that  the  career  of  a 
sailor  was  not  fit  for  any  promising  boy, 
promptly  forbade  the  plan,  and  her  son  re- 
turned to  her  at  the  "  Ferry  Farm  "  to  finish 
his  schooling  under  a  Fredericksburg  clergy- 
man named  James  Marye,  who  taught  him 
a  little  Latin  and  generally  improved  his 
education. 

In  the  Rev.  Mr.  Marye 's  library  was  a 
curious  old  French  book  and  an  English  trans- 
lation of  the  same,  and  from  these  volumes  he 
used  to  dictate  to  his  pupils,  who  wrote  down 
what  was  read  to  them.  In  this  way  Washing- 
ton filled  a  small  exercise  book  with  a  number 
of  rules  entitled  "  Rules  of  Civility  and  De- 
cent Behavior  in  Company  and  Conversation, ' ' 
and  these  rules,  just  as  he  wrote  them,  can  be 

seen  to-day  in  the  State  Department  at  the 

15 


%££!&. 


THE 

{Doting  S&ditVs  Companion: 

Arithemetick  made  Eafy  /  /  * 
W  WITH 

Plain  Directions  for  a  Young  Man  to  attain  to 

Read  and  Write  trae  Engtijb,    with  Copies  in  Vetfc 
for  a  Writing  School,  Indicting  of  Letter*  to  Friends, 
Forms  for  making  Bills,  Bonds.  Releases  Wills,  lie. 
LIKEWISE, 

Eafy  Rules  for  the  Measuring  of  Board  and 
Timber,  by  the  Carpenter's  Plain-Rule,  and  by  Frac- 
tions i  with  Tables  for  fuch  as  have  not  learned 
Arithmetick:  And  to  compute  the  Charge  of  Build- 
ing a  Houfe   or  any  Part  thereof. 

Alfo  Directions  for  Measuring,  Guaging,  and 

Plotting  of  Land  by  Gunteru  Chain*  and  taking  heights 
and  diftances  by  the  Quadrant  and  Triangle.  The  Ufe 
of  Guattr'i  Line  in  Meafuring  Globes,  Bullets,  Walls, 
Cones,  Spire  Steeples,  and  Barrels*.  With  the  Art  of 
Dialling,  and  Colouring  of  Work  within  and  with 
out- Doors.     Directions  for  Dying  of  Stuffs.    (3c. 

Together  with  a  Map  of  the  Globe  of  the  Earth 

and  Water;  and  Cofernieus's  Description  of  the  vifible 
World.  Alio  a  Map  of  England;  and  to  know  which 
are  Cities,  -and  their  Diftance  from  London- 

Choice  Monthly  Observations  for  Gardening 
Planting,  Grafting,  Inoculating  Fruit- Trees,  and  the 
beft  Time  to  Prune  them;  and  the  making  Wine 
of.  Fruit-.  With  experiene'd  Medicines  for  the  Poor. 

An  Account  of  Cttrsofuies  in  London  end  Weftminfter. 


Written  by  W.  Mather,  in  a  plain  an  eafy  Stile,   that  a 
a  young  Man  may  attain  the  fame  without  a  Tutor. 

The  Thirteenth  Edition;  With  mtwi  Additions *ni  Alterati- 
ons, cfpteially  of  the  Arithmetick,  10  the  Modem  Method. 


London:  Prftited  for  S.  Clarke,  the  Corner  of  Exchange, 
Alley,   next  Btrehin  Lane,    1717, 


FLY    LEAF    OF   ONE    OF   WASHINGTON'S    SCHOOL,   BOOKS,  SHOWING    HIS 

SIGNATURE   AT   THE   AGE    OF   TEN. 

{From  the  collection  of  George  Arthur  Plimpton,  Esq.) 


The  Toung  Matis  Companion*         77 


Mafi  Copies  JA  Writ*  fa 


COPY     OP     PENMANSHIP     BY     WHICH     WASHINGTON  S     HANDWRITING 
WAS   FORMED.. 

(From  the  collection  of  George  Arthur  Plimpton,  Esq.) 


SCHOOL   DAYS 

scholar,  nor  a  solemn  "  old  man  "  of  a  boy 
who  posed  as  a  pattern  in  any  way.  He  was  a 
lively,  quick-tempered,  companionable  young- 
ster who  wrestled  with  the  boys  and  romped 
with  the  girls,  but  had  an  abundance  of  good, 
hard,  common  sense  constantly  at  his  com- 
mand. His  schoolmates  quickly  realized  this 
and  he  was  frequently  selected  to  decide  dis- 
putes, not  as  an  outsider,  but  as  a  fellow  who 
could  be  serious  when  occasion  required  and 
was  known  to  play  fairly  and  squarely  at 
every  sort  of  sport. 

But  though  he  was  not  particularly  stu- 
dious, Washington  could  work  as  hard  as  he 
could  play,  and  he  had  gumption  enough  to 
know  that  if  a  thing  is  worth  doing  it  is 
worth  doing  well.  One  of  his  schoolbooks, 
called  "  The  Young  Man's  Companion,"  is 
still  in  existence,  and  from  its  exercises  any- 
one can  see  where  he  acquired  his  good,  clear 
handwriting,  and  how  faithfully  he  stuck  to 
its  figures  and  accounts  until  he  trained  him- 
self to  exactness  and  order.  There  were 
plenty  of  boys  in  Virginia  who  were  quite  as 
well  educated  and  promising  as  he  was  at  the 
age  of  sixteen,  but  the  little  he  had  learned 
from  books  he  had  learned  thoroughly.    Cer- 

21 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

tainly,  if  he  had  been  asked  at  the  close  of  his 
school  days  what  he  could  do  to  earn  his  own 
living,  he  would  not  have  had  to  hesitate  for 
an  answer.  He  could  write  a  good  hand,  figure 
correctly  and  neatly,  keep  simple  accounts,  and 
make  an  acceptable  survey  of  land. 


CHAPTER   III 

SURVEYING  AND  SPORTSMANSHIP 

Land  surveying,  or  the  art  of  measuring 
land,  was  one  of  the  many  things  taught  in 
"  The  Young  Man's  Companion,"  and  Wash- 
ington must  have  been  under  fourteen  when 
he  began  applying  its  rules,  for  at  that  age  he 
made  a  rough  drawing  of  the  hills  about 
Mount  Vernon,  showing  the  dimensions  of 
some  of  the  fields,  and  this  early  specimen  of 
his  skill  can  still  be  seen  in  the  Department  of 
State.  It  was  fascinating  work  for  a  boy  who 
was  fond  of  outdoor  life,  for  most  of  it  had  to 
be  done  in  the  open  air,  and  it  was  interesting 
to  discover  and  mark  the  boundaries  of  the 
plantation  with  the  aid  of  the  surveying  in- 
struments. Moreover,  it  promised  to  fit  him 
for  earning  his  own  living,  as  Virginia  lay  at 
the  very  edge  of  the  wilderness  in  those  days 
and  very  few  landowners  knew  where  their 
property  began  or  ended.     This  was  not  of 

23 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

much  importance  when  there  were  very  few 
houses  or  people,  but  as  the  number  of  settlers 
increased,  every  one  was  anxious  to  know 
where  to  put  up  his  fences.  There  was,  there- 
fore, plenty  of  work  for  good  surveyors,  and 
it  was  this  prospect  that  encouraged  Wash- 
ington to  begin  preparing  himself  for  the  pro- 
fession. Indeed,  it  was  highly  necessary  for 
him  to  make  an  early  start  at  earning  his  liv- 
ing, for  although  his  father  had  owned  a  great 
many  acres  of  land  and  had  provided  that  the 
"  Ferry  Farm  "  should  become  his  when  he 
was  twenty-one,  the  property  was  not  valu- 
able, and  his  mother  and  younger  brothers  and 
sisters  were  to  some  extent  dependent  upon  it 
for  their  support. 

Perhaps  the  idea  that  he  should  become  a 
surveyor  originated  with  his  elder  brothers, 
but  it  is  not  at  all  unlikely  that  the  suggestion 
came  from  a  somewhat  peculiar  old  gentleman 
who  was  a  constant  visitor  at  Lawrence  Wash- 
ington's house  and  owned  great  tracts  of  land 
near  Mount  Vernon.  This  gentleman  was 
Lord  Thomas  Fairfax,  a  rather  lonely  old 
bachelor,  who  had  come  from  England  to  ex- 
amine his  Virginia  estates  and  had  grown  to 
like  the  country  so  well  that  he  had  remained 

24 


W 

wr 


sf    ytix.  JtvesmH&i^.J, 


.v.-rrv  * 


I  ■''vA./ii/JA 


SURVEY    OP    MOUNT    VERNON    MADE    BY    WASHINGTON    "WHEN    ABOUT 
FOURTEEN. 

(From  the  original  in  the  Department  of  State.) 


SURVEYING  AND   SPORTSMANSHIP 

there,  delighting  in  the  freedom  and  solitude 
of  the  woods.  At  times,  however,  the  life  must 
have  been  a  little  too  solitary  for  a  man  who 
had  been  educated  at  Oxford  University  and 
had  seen  service  in  the  army  and  moved  in  the 
best  society  in  London,  and  it  is  no  wonder 
that  he  made  the  most  of  his  hospitable  neigh- 
bors. Washington  was  still  at  school  in  Fred- 
ericksburg when  he  first  met  this  gentleman, 
but  he  spent  most  of  his  spare  time  at  his 
brother's  house,  and  Lord  Fairfax,  finding 
him  to  be  a  well-mannered,  modest  lad  who 
could  back  any  sort  of  horse  and  ride  over 
any  sort  of  country,  often  invited  him  to  go 
hunting,  and  from  that  time  on  their  friend- 
ship steadily  increased. 

Fox  hunting  was  almost  a  passion  with 
Lord  Fairfax,  and  although  he  was  then  fully 
sixty  years  old,  few  men  in  the  country  could 
ride  harder  or  straighter  than  he,  but  he  soon 
found  that  Washington  could  follow  wherever 
he  led.  Day  after  day  the  old  nobleman,  in 
his  black-velvet  cap,  green  coat,  buckskin 
breeches,  and  top  boots,  would  take  to  the  sad- 
dle, surrounded  by  his  hounds,  and  the  longer 
the  chase  and  the  more  difficult  the  country, 
the  better  he  enjoyed  the  sport.    Washington 

27 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

fully  shared  the  veteran's  enthusiasm,  and 
many  a  run  they  made  together,  following  the 
dogs  over  ditches  and  fences  wherever  their 
horses  could  follow  the  trail,  and  it  was  dur- 
ing these  hours  in  the  saddle  that  Lord  Fair- 
fax discovered  what  sort  of  fellow  his  young 
companion  was.  Probably  he  knew  that  a 
man  shows  his  true  character  more  plainly 
during  a  day  in  the  field  or  while  playing  some 
game  than  at  any  other  time.  If  he  is  boast- 
ful or  selfish  or  tricky,  he  cannot  conceal  it 
then,  and  if  he  is  modest,  generous,  and  hon- 
orable, that  will  soon  appear.  Thus,  all  un- 
consciously, Washington  demonstrated,  not 
merely  that  he  was  a  skillful  horseman,  but 
that  he  had  in  him  the  makings  of  a  first-class 
man,  for  he  never  stooped  to  an  unsportsman- 
like action,  never  bragged,  very  seldom  talked 
about  himself,  and  was  evidently  anxious  to 
succeed  at  his  chosen  profession.  This,  in 
time,  led  Lord  Fairfax  to  invite  him  to  use  his 
library — one  of  the  few  available  collections 
of  books  in  Virginia — and  to  encourage  him  to 
read  English  history  and  The  Spectator,  a 
famous  magazine  for  which  his  host  had 
occasionally  written;  and  a  diary  which  the 
boy  kept  of  how  and  where  he  spent  his  time, 

28 


SURVEYING  AND  SPORTSMANSHIP 

shows  that  he  availed  himself  of  these  privi- 
leges. 

Meanwhile,  he  was  not  only  attending 
school,  but  was  gaining  practical  experience 
in  surveying  under  Mr.  James  Genn,  the  li- 
censed surveyor  of  Westmoreland  County, 
and  many  of  that  official's  surveys  which  are 
still  in  existence  are  written  in  Washington's 
neat,  businesslike  hand.  Indeed,  he  showed 
such  a  keen  interest  in  this  work  that  when 
Lord  Fairfax  decided  to  learn  the  extent  of 
his  lands  beyond  the  Blue  Ridge,  he  offered 
his  young  hunting  companion  a  chance  to 
prove  what  he  was  worth  as  a  surveyor,  and 
with  this  opportunity  Washington's  school 
days  ended. 


CHAPTER   IV 

A  FIRST  OPPORTUNITY 

It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  Washington 
was  at  this  time  a  skilled  surveyor,  or  that 
Lord  Fairfax  offered  him  employment  be- 
cause he  had  displayed  unusual  talents  of  any 
kind.  Nothing  could  be  further  from  the 
truth.  He  was  a  cheerful,  well-mannered, 
pleasant  fellow,  who  had  had  the  advantage  of 
good  home  training,  but  he  was  by  no  means 
brilliant.  The  average  intelligent  boy  of  six- 
teen was  certainly  his  equal  and  possibly  his 
superior  in  mental  attainments.  He  had,  how- 
ever, developed  more  systematic  habits  than 
most  boys  of  his  age  and  had  shown  himself 
unmistakably  in  earnest  about  his  work,  so 
that  when  a  chance  came  to  him,  as  it  does  to 
every  one  sooner  or  later,  he  was  ready  to 
grasp  it.  He  did  not  have  "  luck  " — he  had  a 
well-earned  opportunity  and  sufficient  sense 
to  make  the  most  of  it. 

30 


A   FIRST    OPPORTUNITY 

The  task  of  surveying  the  Fairfax  estate 
beyond  the  Blue  Ridge  was,  of  course,  far  too 
important  and  difficult  to  be  wholly  intrusted 
to  a  boy  of  his  years,  and  the  party  to  which  he 
was  assigned  included  Mr.  Genn,  his  former  in- 
structor in  surveying,  Colonel  George  Fairfax, 
one  of  Lord  Fairfax's  relatives,  and  several 
men  to  assist  in  the  minor  duties  of  the  work. 
Before  they  could  start  on  the  trip,  however, 
it  was  necessary  to  make  careful  preparations, 
for  the  estate  lay  in  a  most  inaccessible  wil- 
derness. Pack  horses,  provisions,  tents,  and 
camp  supplies  of  all  kinds  were  therefore  pro- 
cured and  the  whole  outfit  sorted  into  loads 
adjusted  to  the  strength  of  each  animal.  All 
this  consumed  several  days,  and  it  was  March 
11,  1748,  only  a  few  weeks  after  Wash- 
ington's sixteenth  birthday,  when  the  little 
group  of  horsemen  headed  for  the  mountains. 

It  was  still  early  enough  in  the  Spring  for 
cold  weather,  and  the  melting  ice  and  snow  had 
swollen  the  rivers  and  brooks  to  rushing  tor- 
rents, which  could  be  crossed  only  by  swim- 
ming the  horses.  This  was  no  new  experience 
to  Washington,  for  he  was  well  accustomed  to 
riding  over  rough  country  in  every  sort  of 
weather,  but  all  the  camping  he  had  previ- 

31 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

ously  done  was  luxurious  compared  to  the  real 
life  in  the  woods  upon  which  he  now  entered. 
Indeed,  he  soon  found  that  he  was  not  as  good 
a  woodsman  as  the  rest  of  the  party,  for  he 
tried  to  improve  on  their  accommodations 
early  in  the  trip  by  seeking  shelter  in  a  set- 
tler's cabin,  with  the  result  that  he  was  al- 
most eaten  alive  with  vermin,  and  laughingly 
resolved  to  follow  his  companions '  example 
thereafter  and  trust  to  the  open  air  and  a  fire. 
On  another  occasion  his  inexperience  proved 
much  more  serious,  for  during  one  of  the  tem- 
porary encampments  he  made  a  bed  for  him- 
self on  a  pile  of  straw  so  close  to  the  fire  that 
a  spark  set  it  ablaze  while  he  was  sleeping,  and 
he  might  have  been  severely  injured  had  not 
one  of  the  men  awakened  in  time  to  pull  him 
out  of  danger. 

Bad  roads  and  worse  weather  made  the 
traveling  slow  and  the  work  exceedingly  la- 
borious, and  at  the  close  of  two  weeks  of  the 
roughest  living  which  Washington  had  ever 
known  the  company  was  still  far  from  their 
journey's  end.  At  this  point  they  encoun- 
tered a  band  of  Indians  who  had  evidently  been 
on  the  warpath,  for  they  exhibited  a  scalp  and 
performed  a  wild  war  dance  for  the  surveyors' 

32 


A   FIRST    OPPORTUNITY 

benefit.  Washington  wrote  a  careful  and 
rather  humorous  description  of  this  strange 
performance  in  a  memorandum  book,  wherein 
he  noted  everything  of  interest  which  oc- 
curred on  the  trip,  and  the  knowledge  of  In- 
dian manners  and  customs  which  he  gained 
proved  exceedingly  useful  before  he  was  much 
older.  Two  whole  days  were  passed  in  the 
company  of  the  red  men  and  then  the  trav- 
elers again  plunged  into  the  wilderness  for 
another  week's  hard  riding.  At  last,  however, 
they  reached  their  destination  and,  pitching 
their  tents,  settled  down  to  the  real  business 
of  the  trip. 

All  surveyors  in  those  days  worked  with 
three  assistants,  two  known  as  chainmen,  be- 
cause they  carried  the  measuring  chain,  and 
the  third  called  the  poleman  or  pilot,  because 
he  carried  the  pole  by  which  the  instruments 
were  sighted;  and  day  after  day  Washington 
was  busily  employed  with  these  men,  some- 
times under  Mr.  Genn's  direction,  but  often 
without  supervision  of  any  kind.  His  sur- 
veying duties  did  not  occupy  all  his  time,  how- 
ever, for  the  horses  had  to  be  pastured  and 
watered,  and  there  was  always  much  work  to 
be  done  each  day  about  the  camp,  such  as  set- 

33 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF   WASHINGTON 

ting  up  and  taking  down  the  tents,  cutting 
wood,  building  fires,  and  carrying  water. 
Each  man  was  his  own  cook,  broiling  whatever 
meat  there  was  at  the  end  of  sticks  held  over 
the  fire,  but  there  was  no  washing  of  dishes 
or  plates,  for  large  chips  of  wood  served  in 
that  capacity,  and  hunting  knives  were  the 
only  table  utensils.  For  food  the  surveyors 
soon  had  to  rely  on  their  guns,  and  several  wild 
turkeys  were  shot,  one  weighing  as  much  as 
twenty  pounds,  but  Washington's  diary  re- 
cords that  he  missed  two  shots  at  these  birds 
in  one  morning,  which  he  might  well  do  and 
still  be  a  fair  marksman,  as  anyone  can  testify 
who  has  flushed  a  wild  turkey  in  the  forests 
and  heard  the  terrifying  whirr  of  its  mighty 
wings. 

Of  course,  as  the  surveyors  were  con- 
stantly moving  forward,  no  very  permanent 
camps  could  be  erected,  and  the  weather  fre- 
quently made  the  living  very  uncomfortable, 
for  the  tents  were  blown  down  again  and  again 
during  storms,  and  their  occupants  obliged  to 
sleep  on  the  ground.  These  mishaps  often 
caused  heavy  work  for  everybody,  but  Wash- 
ington took  it  all  good-naturedly,  invariably 
making  the  best  of  things  and  never  trying  to 

34 


WASHINGTON  WORKING  AS  A  SURVEYOR  AT  SIXTEEN  YEARS   OF   AGE. 

March- April,   1748. 


A   FIRST   OPPORTUNITY 

shirk.  A  boy  of  different  character,  finding 
himself  a  novice  among  the  backwoodsmen 
with  whom  much  of  his  work  was  done,  might 
perhaps  have  tried  to  win  their  regard  and 
show  himself  a  man  by  imitating  and  outdoing 
them  in  coarse  manners  and  speech.  But 
Washington,  young  as  he  was,  had  too  much 
sense  and  self-respect  for  that.  He  knew  that 
the  older  and  rougher  men  would  begin  by 
laughing  at  him  and  end  by  despising  him  if 
he  tried  to  become  one  of  them  by  any  such 
means.  He  therefore  watched  their  methods 
of  work  and  imitated  all  the  woodcraft  they 
displayed,  but  wisely  refrained  from  copying 
their  manners  or  coarsening  his  mind.  As  a 
result,  they  liked  and  respected  him,  and 
never  for  a  moment  did  anyone  treat  him 
otherwise  than  as  an  equal. 

Despite  the  hardships  and  discomforts  of 
the  life,  Washington  enjoyed  it  keenly.  The 
silence  and  the  beauty  of  the  vast,  uninhab- 
ited regions  through  which  he  worked,  the 
struggling  little  settlements  of  German  emi- 
grants upon  which  he  occasionally  stumbled, 
the  constantly  changing  scene,  the  difficulties, 
dangers,  and  incidents  of  each  day,  interested 
him  intensely,  and  the  knowledge  that  he  was 

35 


ON   THE   TRAIL   OF   WASHINGTON 

proving  his  ability  to  make  an  independent 
living  added  zest  to  his  enjoyment.  Thus  at 
the  end  of  four  weeks,  when  the  survey  was 
completed,  it  was  no  longer  an  untried  boy 
who  journeyed  back  over  the  mountains, 
but  a  man  who  had  done  his  share  of  a  man's 
work  and  had  shown  that  he  could  be  trusted 
to  make  his  way  in  the  world. 


CHAPTER   V 

EARNING   A  LIVING 

From  the  moment  Washington  handed  his 
report  to  his  employer,  his  career  as  a  sur- 
veyor was  assured,  for  Lord  Fairfax  was  so 
well  pleased  with  his  work  that  the  next  year 
he  helped  him  procure  a  license  conferring 
authority  upon  his  surveys,  and  practically 
started  him  in  business.  Thus,  at  seventeen,, 
Washington  was  supporting  himself,  earning 
from  seven  dollars  a  day  upward,  whenever 
the  weather  permitted  him  to  work,  and  he 
was  often  kept  so  steadily  employed  that  for 
weeks  at  a  time  he  never  slept  in  a  bed,  but 
passed  night  after  night  rolled  up  in  a  bear- 
skin under  the  open  sky.  Three  years  of  this 
life  not  only  made  him  as  skilled  a  woodsman 
as  ever  trod  the  forests,  but  gave  him  a  repu- 
tation as  a  surveyor  which  was  second  to  none. 
Indeed,  it  is  said  that  no  error  was  ever  found 
in  any  of  his  surveys,  and  that  some  of  them 

37 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

are  still  the  authority  for  certain  boundaries 
in  Virginia.  This  was  not  due  to  any  extraor- 
dinary ability  on  his  part.  It  was  simply  the 
result  of  having  learned  to  do  one  thing  at  a 
time  in  an  orderly  instead  of  a  slipshod  man- 
ner. It  is  merely  another  proof  that  genius 
is  frequently  nothing  more  or  less  than  "  a 
capacity  for  taking  infinite  pains.' ' 

But  though  he  paid  strict  attention  to  his 
professional  duties,  Washington  evidently  did 
not  intend  to  devote  his  life  to  surveying,  for 
as  he  rode  through  the  country  day  after  day 
he  looked  about  for  good  farm  land,  and  when- 
ever an  opportunity  presented  itself  he  either 
invested  his  earnings  in  what  he  thought  de- 
sirable property  with  the  idea  of  some  day  be- 
coming a  planter,  or  noted  its  location  with  a 
view  to  its  future  purchase.  In  this  way  he 
soon  became  the  owner  of  considerable  prop- 
erty, and  the  judgment  he  displayed  in  select- 
ing it  showed  that  he  was  not  only  a  keen 
observer,  but  a  man  of  some  imagination,  for 
it  required  no  little  faith  to  perceive  the  pos- 
sibilities of  the  wild  lands  of  Virginia  in  those 
early  years. 

In  the  intervals  of  his  work,  the  busy  sur- 
veyor sometimes  visited  his  friend,  Lord  Fair- 

38 


EARNING   A   LIVING 

fax,  who  had  built  a  hunting  lodge  on  his  es- 
tate in  the  Blue  Ridge,  but  more  frequently  he 
returned  to  his  brother  Lawrence's  house, 
where  he  took  fencing  lessons  with  Jacob  Van 
Braam,  a  veteran  of  the  Spanish  campaign, 
and  received  some  little  military  instruction 
from  an  officer  named  Adjutant'  Muse.  With 
both  of  these  men  he  was  to  have  strange  ex- 
periences before  many  years  had  passed,  but 
it  was  with  no  very  definite  idea  of  becoming 
a  soldier  that  he  first  placed  himself  under 
their  instruction.  It  is  highly  probable,  how- 
ever, that  Lawrence  Washington,  who  was 
active  in  what  was  known  as  the  Ohio  Com- 
pany, desired  his  young  kinsman  to  adopt  the 
profession  of  arms,  for  he  plainly  foresaw 
that  there  would  soon  be  a  clash  between  the 
French  and  English  unless  one  or  the  other 
surrendered  its  claim  to  the  land  in  which  the 
Ohio  Company  was  interested.  Doubtless  it 
was  this  belief  and  his  own  failing  health  that 
caused  him  to  resign  his  own  command  in  the 
Colonial  army  and  secure  the  post  of  military 
inspector,  with  the  rank  of  major  and  a  salary 
of  a  hundred  and  fifty  pounds  a  year  for  his 
young  brother,  then  nineteen  years  of  age.  In 
any  case  it  was  this  action  which  first  brought 

39 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

Washington  in  touch  with  military  affairs  in 
Virginia  and  largely  determined  his  future 
career. 

Shortly  after  this  important  event,  Law- 
rence became  alarmingly  ill  and  Washing- 
ton immediately  dropped  all  business  to  ac- 
company him  to  the  Island  of  Barbadoes  in 
the  West  Indies,  where  the  doctors  thought 
the  climate  might  effect  his  cure.  This  was 
the  first  time  the  younger  man  had  been  out 
of  Virginia,  and  the  diary  which  he  kept  of 
his  travels  was  neither  egotistic  nor  sentimen- 
tal, as  many  diaries  are,  but  a  brief  memoran- 
dum showing  that  he  saw  all  that  was  worth 
seeing  and  understood  what  he  saw.  The  trip 
was  unfortunate  almost  from  the  very  start, 
for  Lawrence's  health  did  not  improve  and 
Washington  soon  contracted  smallpox,  from 
which  he  did  not  recover  for  several  weeks, 
and  of  which  he  bore  the  marks  all  the  rest  of 
his  life.  Moreover,  the  return  voyage  was 
made  in  the  wildest  sort  of  weather,  which 
well-nigh  wrecked  the  ship  and  gave  Washing- 
ton an  experience  in  seasickness  and  the  per- 
ils of  the  deep  which  probably  made  him 
thankful  that  he  had  not  been  allowed  to  be- 
come a  sailor. 

40 


EARNING   A   LIVING 

A  few  months  after  his  return  to  Mount 
Vernon,  Lawrence  died,  leaving  Washington 
as  the  guardian  of  his  daughter  and  intrust- 
ing all  his  property  and  affairs  to  his  care. 
Under  these  circumstances  it  was  no  longer 
possible  for  the  young  surveyor  to  continue  his 
chosen  career,  but  he  at  once  accepted  the  re- 
sponsibility which  had  been  thrust  upon  him 
and  set  to  work  at  the  management  of  his 
brother's  plantation,  at  the  same  time  helping 
his  mother  in  the  management  of  hers.  All 
this  imposed  a  heavy  burden  on  a  boy  not  yet 
twenty-one,  and  it  is  not  at  all  surprising  that 
he  soon  appeared  a  good  deal  older  than  his 
years.  Certainly  he  must  have  made  an  un- 
usual impression  on  the  then  Lieutenant  Gov- 
ernor of  Virginia,  for  in  his  twenty-second 
year  that  official  selected  him  for  an  impor- 
tant and  dangerous  mission  which  was  des- 
tined to  change  the  entire  course  of  his  life. 


CHAPTER   VI 

A  DANGEROUS   MISSION 

Washington's  brother  had  good  reason 
for  expecting  that  England  and  France  would 
soon  be  at  war,  for  both  countries  claimed  the 
same  lands  on  the  Ohio  River  and  each  was 
sending  settlers  there  and  trying  to  prevent 
the  other  from  trading  with  the  Indians.  In- 
deed, it  was  to  secure  this  profitable  business 
that  Lawrence  Washington,  Governor  Din- 
widdie,  and  others  had  formed  the  Ohio  Com- 
pany, and  obtained  permission  from  the  Eng- 
lish Government  to  take  possession  of  the 
region  in  dispute  and  establish  trading  posts. 
The  French,  however,  had  no  intention  of  al- 
lowing them  to  do  anything  of  the  sort,  and 
they  promptly  sent  soldiers  from  Canada  to 
build  a  fort  on  the  Ohio  River  and  drive  the 
English  settlers  away.  All  this  was  done  so 
quietly  that  for  a  time  no  one  in  Virginia 
knew  exactly  what  was  happening,  but  when 

42 


A   DANGEROUS    MISSION 

rumors  began  to  be  heard  that  the  Frenchmen 
had  not  only  seized  the  lands,  but  were  trying 
to  persuade  the  Indians  to  help  them  against 
the  English,  Governor  Dinwiddie  sent  an  offi- 
cer to  find  out  where  the  fort  was  being 
erected  and  to  demand  an  explanation  from 
the  French  authorities.  The  man  to  whom 
this  duty  was  intrusted,  however,  speedily  re- 
turned, reporting  that  he  had  not  got  within 
miles  of  the  fort,  but  had  heard  such  terrify- 
ing stories  of  what  the  French  and  their  In- 
dian allies  would  do  to  any  Englishman  found 
in  that  part  of  the  country,  that  he  had  has- 
tened back  to  Virginia  with  all  possible  speed. 
There  was  nothing  for  the  Governor  to  do, 
therefore,  but  dismiss  this  cautious  gentleman 
and  appoint  some  less  timid  person  in  his 
place.  It  was  by  no  means  easy,  however,  to 
discover  just  the  right  man,  for  winter  was 
almost  at  hand,  and  only  a  trained  woodsman 
could  find  his  way  through  the  forests  at  that 
time  of  year.  Moreover,  it  was  necessary  that 
the  messenger  should  understand  something 
of  military  matters,  be  able  to  write  a  correct 
report  of  all  he  saw  and  did,  and  know  how  to 
make  friends  with  the  Indians.  Finally,  some 
one  recommended  that  the  young  Major  who 

43 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

had  recently  been  appointed  one  of  the  four 
Adjutant  Generals  of  Virginia  be  given  a 
chance  to  win  his  spurs,  and  the  Governor 
promptly  acted  upon  the  suggestion.  He  not 
only  knew  Washington  in  his  official  capacity, 
but  had  met  him  through  his  brother  Law- 
rence and  the  Fairfaxes,  and  what  he  had 
learned  of  his  qualities  probably  made  him 
sure  that  the  work  could  be  safely  intrusted 
to  his  hands.  Accordingly,  late  in  October, 
1753,  he  gave  the  young  officer  a  letter  ad- 
dressed to  the  Commandant  of  the  French 
forces  on  the  Ohio,  with  instructions  to  deliver 
it  and  return  with  an  answer  at  the  earliest 
possible  moment,  taking  care  to  let  the  In- 
dians understand  that  the  English  were  their 
friends. 

Washington  had  had  little  or  no  military 
experience  up  to  this  time,  but  he  realized  that 
the  first  duty  of  a  soldier  is  prompt  obedience, 
and  the  very  day  he  received  his  orders  he 
began  making  ready  for  his  perilous  task.  He 
knew  far  too  much  about  traveling  in  the  wil- 
derness, however,  to  rush  in  without  careful 
preparations,  and  almost  the  first  thing  he 
did  was  to  engage  his  old  fencing  master,  Ja- 
cob Van  Braam,  and  Christopher  Gist,  one 

44 


A   DANGEROUS    MISSION 

of  the  best  guides  in  Virginia,  to  accompany 
him  on  the  trip.  With  the  assistance  of  these 
men  he  then  proceeded  to  collect  a  good  sup- 
ply of  horses,  guns,  ammunition,  and  provi- 
sions, and  selected  four  experienced  woods- 
men to  take  care  of  the  animals  and  baggage 
and  act  as  servants.  All  this  occupied  many 
days,  and  before  the  party  fairly  started  on 
their  journey  the  ground  was  covered  with 
deep  snow  and  the  streams  had  become  far 
too  high  to  cross  without  risking  their  packs. 
It  was  necessary,  therefore,  to  divide  the 
party,  some  of  them  taking  the  horses  by 
roundabout  trails  which  avoided  the  rivers, 
while  others  sailed  down  them  in  a  canoe,  and 
it  was  only  after  a  week  of  the  hardest  sort  of 
work  that  the  travelers  reached  the  Ohio. 
Even  then  they  were  still  far  from  the  French 
fort,  but  it  was  at  this  point  that  the  first  mes- 
senger had  been  frightened  into  beating  a  re- 
treat, and  Washington  was  fully  aware  of  the 
perils  which  confronted  him.  He  knew  that 
the  surrounding  country  was  almost  entirely 
inhabited  by  Indians,  and  if  it  should  be  true 
that  the  French  had  succeeded  in  persuading 
them  to  take  up  the  hatchet  against  the  Eng- 
lish, there  was  every  reason  to  believe  that 

45 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

they  would  make  short  work  of  him  and  his 
little  party.  It  was  now,  however,  that  his  ex- 
perience with  the  red  men  began  to  prove  of 
use,  for  he  immediately  sought  out  Shingiss, 
one  of  the  most  dangerous  of  the  Delaware 
chiefs  in  the  neighborhood,  and  paid  him  a 
visit  of  ceremony,  at  the  same  time  inviting 
him  to  a  council  of  chiefs  to  be  held  within  a 
few  days  at  Logstown.  A  man  with  less 
knowledge  of  the  Indians  might  have  treated 
them  as  mere  painted  savages,  but  Washing- 
ton knew  that  their  leaders  were  men  of  great 
dignity  and  considerable  intelligence,  who 
would  have  to  be  approached  with  marked  re- 
spect and  politeness,  if  he  was  to  win  them  to 
his  side.  With  this  idea  he  sought  the  advice 
of  John  Davison,  one  of  his  party,  who  spoke 
several  Indian  languages,  and  through  him  he 
communicated  with  a  number  of  the  sachems 
or  chiefs  of  the  tribes  known  as  the  Six  Na- 
tions, among  whom  was  the  powerful  Seneca 
chief  called  the  Half  King.  This  important 
personage  was,  however,  absent  at  his  hunting 
cabin,  and  a  runner  was  sent  after  him  to  in- 
form him  of  Washington's  arrival  and  of  his 
wish  to  speak  with  him. 

In  the  meantime  the  young  officer  learned 
46 


A  DANGEROUS    MISSION 

all  he  could  of  the  existing  situation  from 
some  French  deserters  who  came  into  his 
camp,  and  after  noting  their  stories  in  a 
memorandum  book,  he  called  upon  the  Half 
King  and  invited  him  to  a  private  conference, 
where  he  learned  that  the  French  Comman- 
dant had  threatened  to  make  war  on  the 
Indians  if  they  did  not  side  with  his  country- 
men. Thereupon  Washington  called  all  the 
chiefs  together  and  made  a  friendly  speech, 
telling  them  that  he  had  come  to  let  them 
know  that  the  English  would  protect  them, 
and  ended  by  asking  their  assistance  in  reach- 
ing the  French  fort  that  he  might  deliver  a 
message  to  its  Commandant.  All  this  was 
translated  to  the  red  men  and  accompanied  by 
gifts  consisting  of  belts  of  wampum,  accord- 
ing to  the  Indian  custom,  which  pleased  the 
chiefs,  and  addressing  him  by  the  Indian 
name  "  Conotocarius,,,  the  Half  King  prom- 
ised Washington  to  side  with  the  English 
against  the  French  and  to  give  him  a  guard  of 
honor  to  accompany  him  on  his  mission  to  the 
fort.  For  the  moment  it  must  have  surprised 
Washington  to  hear  himself  called  "  Conoto- 
carius,,,  which  means  "  the  devourer  of  vil- 
lages," but  the  Indians,  whose  memory  was 

47 


ON   THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

extraordinary,  probably  associated  his  name 
with  that  of  an  ancestor  of  his,  Colonel  John 
Washington,  who,  nearly  a  hundred  years  be- 
fore, had  headed  an  expedition  against  the 
Susquehannocks  and  burned  several  of  their 
villages. 

It  was  some  days,  however,  before  a  start 
could  be  made,  for  the  Half  King  insisted 
upon  a  great  many  ceremonies,  and  Washing- 
ton was  obliged  to  wait  for  fear  of  offending 
him.  Finally,  he  was  permitted  to  proceed, 
accompanied  by  the  Half  King  and  two  other 
chiefs  called  Jeskakake  and  White  Thunder, 
and  after  traveling  seventy  miles  in  bad 
weather  the  party  arrived  at  the  first  French 
outpost  which  was  found  to  be  in  charge  of 
a  captain. 

Here  the  Virginians  were  received  with 
great  politeness  and  invited  to  a  supper  where 
there  was  plenty  to  eat  and  more  to  drink,  all 
of  which  was  very  agreeable  after  their  weeks 
of  rough  living  in  the  woods.  But  Washing- 
ton had  not  taken  his  hard  trip  into  the  wil- 
derness merely  to  enjoy  himself,  and  he  ate 
and  drank  very  moderately,  quietly  noting 
what  his  hosts  said  when  the  wine  set  them  to 
boasting,  and  keeping  his  own  head  clear  for 

48 


A  DANGEROUS    MISSION 

the  work  that  lay  before  him.  His  Indian 
companions,  however,  were  not  so  wise  and  he 
soon  discovered  that  the  Frenchmen  were  try- 
ing to  win  them  from  him  by  supplying  them 
with  liquor  and  telling  them  that  the  French 
and  not  the  English  were  their  true  friends. 
Nevertheless,  he  managed  to  persuade  them  to 
resume  their  journey  after  a  long  delay,  and 
finally  arrived  at  the  fort,  where  he  delivered 
his  letter  and  received  one  in  reply. 

Then  followed  another  hard  struggle  for 
the  friendship  of  the  Half  King  and  the  other 
chiefs,  and  so  lavishly  did  the  French  enter- 
tain the  red  men  that  for  a  time  it  seemed  as 
though  the  young  Virginian  would  not  be  able 
to  hold  them  to  their  promises.  Still  they  ac- 
companied him  when  he  started  on  his  return 
journey,  but  when  they  again  reached  the 
French  outpost  nothing  could  persuade  them 
to  go  farther.  Washington,  therefore,  took 
leave  of  them  and  pushed  resolutely  home- 
ward, but  his  pack  horses  soon  grew  weak,  and 
before  they  had  proceeded  far  part  of  the  bag- 
gage had  to  be  carried  on  the  riding  horses, 
and  even  then  the  cavalcade  could  proceed 
only  at  a  snail's  pace  through  the  heavy  drifts 
of  freezing  snow. 

49 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

Finally,  Washington  determined  to  make 
the  rest  of  the  journey  on  foot  and,  equipping 
himself  in  Indian  dress  and  shouldering  a 
knapsack  and  gun,  he  started  off  through  the 
forest  with  Mr.  Gist,  little  suspecting  the  dan- 
gers which  lurked  in  his  path. 


CHAPTER   VII 

ADVENTURES   IN   A   WILDERNESS 

It  was  the  day  after  Christmas  when 
Washington  and  his  companion  plunged  into 
the  forest,  and  the  snow,  which  had  brought 
the  horses  to  a  practical  standstill,  rendered 
rapid  traveling  impossible.  Moreover,  each 
man  was  encumbered  by  a  heavy  knapsack 
and  a  gun,  and  neither  had  had  much  experi- 
ence with  snowshoes.  Nevertheless,  they  man- 
aged to  cover  eighteen  miles  the  first  day  and 
found  lodging  for  the  night  at  an  Indian 
cabin.  By  this  time  Washington  was  foot- 
sore and  weary,  but  early  the  next  morning 
Mr.  Gist  and  he  pushed  on  again  until  they 
reached  an  Indian  village  known  as  Murder- 
ing Town,  probably  because  of  some  massacre 
which  had  occurred  there  in  former  years. 

Here  they  met  a  party  of  French  Indians, 
one  of  whom  pretended  to  know  Mr.  Gist, 
called  him  by  his  Indian  name,  questioned  him 

51 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

as  to  where  lie  had  come  from  and  where  he 
was  going,  and  finally  agreed  to  accompany 
the  travelers  and  guide  them  to  the  nearest 
trail.  Gist  was  extremely  suspicious  of  this 
mysterious  redskin,  but  as  Washington  wished 
to  take  the  shortest  possible  route,  it  seemed 
best  to  accept  his  assistance,  and  the  three 
started  into  the  woods  together,  the  Indian 
carrying  Washington's  pack. 

For  eight  or  ten  miles  they  traveled  rap- 
idly, but  the  white  men  soon  began  to  think 
their  guide  was  leading  them  astray,  and  when 
they  proposed  a  halt  he  grew  surly,  declaring 
that  they  would  be  scalped  if  they  stayed  the 
night  where  they  were,  as  hostile  Indians 
were  lurking  in  the  woods.  Doubtful  as  they 
were  of  the  redskin's  honesty,  the  two  Vir- 
ginians followed  him  a  little  farther  and  then 
stopped  again,  but  the  Indian  tried  to  lure 
them  onward  by  claiming  they  were  so  close 
to  his  cabin  that  the  report  of  a  gun  could  be 
heard  from  there.  Once  more  the  travelers 
advanced,  but  by  this  time  their  suspicions 
were  thoroughly  aroused  and  they  soon  re- 
fused to  proceed  another  step,  although  the 
Indian  protested  that  his  hut  was  then  so  near 
that  two  whoops  could  be  heard  there.    While 

52 


ADVENTURES  IN  A  WILDERNESS 

they  were  still  deliberating  what  to  do,  how- 
ever, the  pretended  guide  suddenly  raised  his 
gun,  fired  point-blank  at  them,  and  seeing  that 
he  had  missed  his  aim,  fled  to  the  shelter  of  a 
tree,  where  he  attempted  to  reload  his  weapon, 
but  before  he  succeeded,  his  intended  victims 
sprang  upon  him,  and  had  Washington  not  in- 
terfered, Gist  would  have  killed  him  on  the 
spot. 

What  to  do  with  the  fellow  was  a  serious 
question,  but  it  was  at  last  decided  to  let  him 
go,  with  the  idea  that  he  would  make  straight 
for  the  ambush  where  his  friends  were  prob- 
ably waiting.  Gist,  therefore,  pretended  to 
believe  that  he  had  fired  the  gun  as  a  signal  and 
directed  him  to  find  his  cabin  and  bring  back 
some  food,  but  the  moment  he  disappeared  in 
the  forest,  the  travelers  started  in  the  oppo- 
site direction,  and  by  desperate  work  man- 
aged to  keep  moving  during  the  whole  night. 
This  gave  them  a  good  start,  but  both  men 
realized  that  they  would  not  be  out  of  danger 
until  they  had  water  between  them  and  their 
pursuers,  so  they  made  but  few  halts  the  next 
day,  and  dared  not  light  a  fire  for  fear  the 
smoke  would  put  the  Indians  on  their  trail. 
At  last  they  reached  the  Alleghany  River,  but 

53 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

it  was  too  deep  to  ford,  and  their  only  chance 
of  crossing  it  was  to  build  a  raft.  With  des- 
perate haste,  therefore,  they  set  to  work,  and 
despite  the  fact  that  they  had  only  one  hatchet, 
they  succeeded  in  cutting  down  a  few  trees, 
and  binding  them  together,  clambered  aboard 
the  logs  and  pushed  out  from  the  shore. 

The  stream  was  swift  and  deep  and  filled 
with  floating  ice,  and  in  trying  to  steady  the 
clumsy  craft  with  a  pole,  Washington  was 
jerked  overboard  into  about  ten  feet  of  freez- 
ing water,  and  he  would  have  been  drowned 
had  he  not  clung  to  one  of  the  raft  logs.  This 
was  not  the  end  of  their  troubles,  however,  for 
the  raft  was  now  in  midstream,  and  do  what 
they  could,  the  men  were  unable  to  drive  it  to 
either  shore.  Finally,  it  drifted  near  an  is- 
land, which  they  managed  to  reach,  and  there 
they  remained  until  the  next  morning,  when 
the  river  was  sufficiently  frozen  to  allow  them 
to  cross  it  on  the  ice.  By  this  time  all  Mr. 
Gist's  fingers  had  been  frozen  and  some  of  his 
toes,  and  it  was  with  great  difficulty  that  the 
travelers  forced  their  way  through  the  woods 
to  an  Indian  trader's  cabin,  where  they  re- 
ceived shelter  and  refreshment.  There  they 
learned  that  a  band  of  Ottawa  Indians  had 

54 


ADVENTURES  IN  A  WILDERNESS 

recently  killed  and  scalped  a  party  of  seven 
men  and  women,  and  congratulating  them- 
selves on  their  escape,  they  concluded  to  pro- 
cure horses  before  again  venturing  into  the 
forests. 

In  the  meantime  Washington  heard  that 
the  Queen  of  one  of  the  neighboring  Indian 
tribes  had  been  offended  because  he  had  failed 
to  visit  her  on  his  outward  journey,  and  mind- 
ful of  his  instructions  to  make  friends  with 
the  savages  whenever  it  was  possible  to  do  so, 
he  sought  her  out  and  gave  her  a  match  coat 
and  a  bottle  of  rum,  which  latter  gift,  he  noted 
in  his  diary,  she  thought  much  the  better  pres- 
ent of  the  two.  Finally,  the  horses  arrived 
and  the  travelers  at  once  mounted  and  resumed 
their  journey,  Gist  stopping  at  his  home  and 
Washington  pressing  steadily  forward  day 
after  day,  in  the  face  of  the  worst  possible 
weather,  but  making  such  slow  progress,  de- 
spite his  best  endeavors,  that  almost  two 
weeks  elapsed  before  he  arrived  at  Colonel 
Fairfax's  residence. 

One  day's  rest,  however,  served  to  put  him 
in  good  condition  and  he  immediately  pro- 
ceeded to  Williamsburg,  where  he  arrived  at 
the  end  of  four  days  and  delivered  the  French 

55 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

Commandant's  letter  to  the  Governor.  This 
letter  was  practically  a  defiance  of  the  English 
Government,  and  realizing  that  it  meant  war, 
Governor  Dinwiddie  directed  the  young  offi- 
cer to  make  a  written  report  of  all  he  had  seen 
and  heard,  and  to  have  it  ready  within  twenty- 
four  hours.  A  less  careful  man  might  perhaps 
have  been  unable  to  respond  to  this  sudden  de- 
mand, but  Washington's  habit  of  keeping  a 
diary  now  stood  him  in  good  stead  and  he 
straightway  wrote  a  modest  account  of  his  ad- 
ventures, with  such  accurate  and  detailed  in- 
formation concerning  the  French  fort  and  its 
garrison,  the  Indians,  and  the  surrounding 
country,  that  it  was  printed  and  published  as 
a  governmental  record.  Indeed,  all  who  read 
the  document  agreed  that  it  was  a  remarkable 
performance  for  a  man  not  yet  twenty-two 
years  of  age,  and  within  three  months  its 
author  was  made  a  Lieutenant  Colonel. 


CHAPTER   VIII 

BAPTISM  OF  FIRE 

War  had  not  yet  been  declared,  but  before 
lie  obtained  his  promotion  Washington  re- 
ceived orders  to  enlist  a  body  of  recruits  and 
prepare  them  for  active  service  in  the  field. 
He  accordingly  proceeded  to  enroll  and  equip 
as  many  men  as  possible,  but  he  knew  very  lit- 
tle more  about  military  matters  than  the  pri- 
vates under  his  command,  and  all  the  delays 
and  difficulties  in  procuring  the  necessary  sup- 
plies sorely  tried  his  patience.  For  a  time, 
indeed,  it  seemed  as  though  his  hasty  temper 
would  prove  a  serious  obstacle  to  his  career, 
for  he  fretted  and  fumed  over  every  petty  an- 
noyance, and  it  was  with  the  greatest  difficulty 
that  he  learned  the  value  of  calmness  and  the 
art  of  making  the  best  of  things.  Meanwhile, 
he  received  his  commission  as  Lieutenant 
Colonel  of  a  regiment  commanded  by  Colonel 
Fry,  with  orders  to  march  at  once  with  his 
raw  recruits  to  the  relief  of  Captain  Trent, 

57 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

who  had  been  sent  to  erect  a  fort  on  the  Ohio, 
and  on  April  2,  1754,  he  again  started  into  the 
wilderness  at  the  head  of  abont  a  hundred  and 
fifty  men.  Once  more  his  fencing  master,  Van 
Braam,  accompanied  him,  this  time  as  a  lieu- 
tenant, but  before  the  campaign  ended  he  had 
good  reason  to  regret  that  he  had  not  left  this 
old  friend  at  home. 

Indeed,  the  whole  expedition  was  unfortu- 
nate from  the  very  start,  for  Captain  Trent, 
who  had  been  intrusted  with  the  building  of 
the  fort,  was  the  same  timid  messenger  who 
had  been  frightened  away  from  the  Ohio  only 
a  few  months  earlier,  and  before  the  relief  ex- 
pedition could  reach  him,  the  French  captured 
his  fort  while  he  was  absent  from  his  post,  and 
his  men  scampered  toward  home  as  fast  as 
their  legs  could  carry  them.  When  this  news 
reached  him,  Washington  would  have  been 
fully  justified  in  retreating  with  his  handful 
of  men,  or  in  waiting  where  he  was  for  further 
orders,  but  he  regarded  the  attack  on  the  fort 
as  a  declaration  of  war  and  decided  to  push 
forward  and  at  least  prepare  the  way  for 
Colonel  Fry  and  the  rest  of  the  regiment. 
This  was,  of  course,  an  extremely  rash  pro- 
ceeding, for  the  French  were  known  to  have 

58 


BAPTISM    OF    FIRE 

almost  a  thousand  soldiers  and  Indians  at 
their  command,  and  the  entire  Virginian  force 
numbered  less  than  two  hundred  inexperi- 
enced militia.  But  their  commander  longed 
for  an  opportunity  to  distinguish  himself  and 
was  confident  that  he  could  retreat  in  time  if 
the  enemy  attacked  in  too  great  force  to  be 
resisted.  Accordingly,  he  informed  Governor 
Dinwiddie  of  his  intention  to  advance,  and 
used  every  effort  to  induce  the  Half  King  and 
other  chiefs  of  the  Six  Nations  to  come  to  his 
support.  The  Indians,  however,  moved  very 
slowly,  and  so  much  time  was  wasted  in  col- 
lecting the  necessary  provisions  and  supplies 
for  the  little  army,  and  so  much  dissatisfac- 
tion was  felt  concerning  the  officers'  pay,  that 
the  ardent  young  Lieutenant  Colonel  worked 
himself  into  a  perfect  fever  of  indignation. 
Meanwhile,  however,  the  Governor  approved 
his  plan  of  action,  and  encouraged  by  this  and 
the  prospects  of  being  reenforced  by  some  of 
his  Indian  friends,  he  pushed  on  to  a  place 
known  as  Great  Meadows,  which  he  thought 
tl  a  charming  field  for  an  encounter."  Here 
he  built  intrenchments,  but  when  the  Half 
King  and  some  of  the  other  chiefs  arrived 
they  brought  only  a  handful  of  warriors  with 

59 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

them,  and  there  was  every  indication  that  the 
French  were  rapidly  advancing  in  overwhelm- 
ing numbers.  By  this  time  the  campaign  had 
lasted  almost  two  months  without  a  shot  being 
fired  on  either  side,  and  when  on  the  night  of 
May  27,  1754,  news  was  received  that  a  party 
of  Frenchmen  had  at  last  been  seen  only  a 
few  miles  from  his  camp,  Washington  hurried 
forward  at  the  head  of  forty  men  with  the  idea 
of  surprising  and  capturing  them. 

The  night  was  as  black  as  pitch  when  the 
young  commander  and  his  company  started 
into  the  forest  and  a  heavy  rain  was  falling, 
making  it  almost  impossible  to  keep  the  blind 
trail  they  were  endeavoring  to  follow.  Again 
and  again  they  lost  it  and  tumbled  over  one 
another  in  groping  their  way  through  the 
darkness,  but  by  sunrise  they  made  a  juncture 
with  the  Half  King  and  a  few  other  Indians, 
and  before  long  their  scouts  located  the 
French  camp.  Washington  thereupon  di- 
rected the  Indians  to  advance  on  the  left, 
while  he  closed  in  on  the  enemy  from  the 
right,  and  pushing  forward  at  the  head  of  his 
men,  suddenly  came  upon  the  French,  who  in- 
stantly sprang  to  their  arms  and  opened  a 
brisk  fire.    In  fifteen  minutes  ten  of  them  were 

60 


BAPTISM    OF    FIRE 

killed,  one  was  wounded,  twenty-one  were 
captured,  and  only  one  escaped.  Among  those 
killed  was  the  commander,  Jumonville,  and 
when  the  news  of  his  death  reached  the 
French,  they  denounced  it  as  a  murder,  on  the 
ground  that  he  was  merely  a  peaceful  ambas- 
sador, although  the  papers  found  in  his  pos- 
session, and  other  facts,  indicated  that  he  was 
commanding  an  armed  scouting  party.  Wash- 
ington sent  his  prisoners  to  Virginia,  and, 
flushed  with  his  little  victory,  foolishly  wrote 
home  that  he  had  heard  the  bullets  whistling, 
and  that  there  was  something  charming  in  the 
sound,  at  the  same  time  flattering  himself 
that  he  would  have  no  trouble  in  holding  his 
own  against  the  French.  But  before  long  he 
learned  that  overconfidence  is  almost  always 
fatal  to  success — a  lesson  he  never  forgot. 

During  all  this  time  Colonel  Fry,  the  com- 
mander of  the  regiment,  had  remained  some 
little  distance  from  the  scene,  and  within  a  few 
days  after  the  opening  engagement  he  died, 
leaving  Washington  to  his  own  resources, 
with  very  litle  hope  of  being  strongly  reen- 
forced  and  every  prospect  of  being  attacked 
by  the  main  body  of  the  enemy.  Nevertheless, 
the  young  commander  actually  moved  for- 

61 


ON   THE    TRAIL    OF   WASHINGTON 

ward,  and  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  his  pro- 
visions were  low  and  the  Indians  far  from  en- 
thusiastic, he  held  his  position  until  warned 
that  an  overwhelming  French  force  was  ap- 
proaching to  avenge  what  they  called  the 
"  murder  of  Jumonville."  Then  he  fell  back 
upon  the  Great  Meadows,  where  he  hastily 
erected  a  shelter  which  he  called  "Fort  Neces- 
sity," but  the  enemy  was  already  at  his  heels, 
and  his  famished  men  had  scarcely  recovered 
from  their  exhausting  retreat  before  their  pur- 
suers opened  fire  and  received  an  answering 
volley.  For  a  whole  day  skirmishing  con- 
tinued, but  by  this  time  all  Washington's 
Indian  allies  had  disappeared,  Major  Muse, 
his  old  military  instructor,  began  to  show  the 
white  feather,  and  the  half-starved  men  were 
in  no  condition  to  defend  themselves  against 
the  superior  forces  opposed  to  them.  He, 
therefore,  gladly  welcomed  the  flag  of  truce 
which  the  French  sent  out,  and  accepted  their 
proposition  to  retire  from  the  fort  with  all 
the  honors  of  war. 

The  terms  of  surrender  were  in  French, 
and  as  Washington  could  not  read  that  lan- 
guage, he  was  obliged  to  rely  on  his  old  fenc- 
ing teacher,  Van  Braam,  to  translate  them  for 

62 


BAPTISM    OF    FIRE 

him,  and  the  veteran  swordsman  made  a  sorry 
mess  of  this,  for  the  document  was  so  worded 
as  to  make  it  appear  that  the  English  ad- 
mitted that  Jumonville  had  been  murdered, 
whereas  Van  Braam  thought  it  merely  stated 
that  he  had  been  killed.  Blissfully  ignorant  of 
this  trick,  Washington  started  homeward  the 
next  morning  with  his  flags  flying  and  drums 
beating,  but  the  French  Indians  threatened  his 
men  on  their  march,  stole  their  horses,  and 
destroyed  their  baggage,  and  it  was  a  miser- 
able and  exhausted  party  that  at  last  reached 
Virginia.  Here,  however,  no  one  blamed  them 
for  their  defeat,  and  the  government,  exon- 
erating Washington  for  the  error  in  the  terms 
of  surrender,  gave  a  vote  of  thanks  to  him  and 
his  officers,  except  Major  Muse,  for  the  cour- 
age with  which  they  had  stuck  to  their  posts 
without  support  for  more  than  three  months. 
Nevertheless,  the  young  commander  was  not 
deceived  by  this  generous  treatment  and  re- 
fused to  pose  as  a  hero.  He  knew  that  he  had 
been  rash  to  the  point  of  folly,  and  had  been 
guilty  of  some  rather  childish  boasting,  but 
before  another  year  had  passed  he  had  an  op- 
portunity of  showing  what  he  had  learned 
from  humiliation  and  defeat. 

63 


CHAPTER   IX 

THE  BATTLE  OF   MONONGAHELA 

Up  to  this  time  the  campaign  against  the 
French  had  been  conducted  entirely  by  the 
colonies,  but  now  the  British  Government  de- 
cided to  assume  control  of  the  war,  and  several 
regiments  were  sent  from  England  to  Vir- 
ginia. At  the  very  outset,  however,  the 
authorities  made  a  serious  blunder,  for  they 
issued  an  order  that  the  British  should  out- 
rank the  Virginian  officers  on  all  occasions, 
and  when  Washington  discovered  that  this 
practically  placed  him  under  the  orders  of 
men  of  a  lower  grade  he  immediately  resigned 
and  retired  to  his  farm  at  Mount  Vernon. 
Nevertheless,  he  was  eager  to  see  further  serv- 
ice in  the  field,  and  when  General  Braddock, 
the  British  commander,  offered  to  make  him 
one  of  his  staff  officers,  with  the  rank  of 
Colonel,  and  allow  him  to  serve  as  a  volunteer, 
he  promptly  accepted  the  invitation. 

64 


THE   BATTLE   OF   MONONGAHELA 

General  Braddock  was  an  experienced  sol- 
dier, with  a  good,  if  not  a  great,  military  repu- 
tation, but  lie  was  entirely  ignorant  of  the 
country  in  which  his  campaign  would  have  to 
be  fought  and  he  had  a  supreme  contempt  for 
the  Virginian  and  all  other  provincial  troops. 
He  had  heard  enough  of  Washington,  how- 
ever, to  think  that  his  experience  might  be 
useful,  and  for  this  reason  he  made  it  possible 
for  him  to  join  the  army  without  loss  of  rank 
or  dignity.  The  Virginian  Colonel  was  then 
a  powerfully  built  young  fellow  of  about 
twenty-three,  over  six  feet  tall,  with  a  grave 
but  pleasant  face,  rather  shy  and  awkward  in 
the  presence  of  women,  but  entirely  at  his  ease 
in  the  company  of  men,  and  filled  with  enthu- 
siasm for  military  life.  A  different  type  of 
man  might  easily  have  been  regarded  as  an  in- 
truder by  the  British  officers,  but  they  soon 
discovered  that  he  never  talked  about  what  he 
had  seen  or  done,  but  was  exceedingly  anxious 
to  learn  everything  they  could  teach  him,  and 
before  long  he  was  a  favorite  in  the  mess- 
room,  and  as  nearly  m  the  confidence  of  the 
General  as  any  member  of  his  staff.  Hitherto, 
the  only  soldiers  he  had  commanded  had  been 
backwoodsmen,  clad  in  every  sort  of  costume, 

65 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

with  little  or  no  idea  of  drill  or  discipline,  and 
the  sight  of  the  British  regulars,  with  their 
smart  uniforms  and  precise  military  move- 
ments, filled  him  with  admiration  as  he 
watched  them  on  parade.  Indeed,  for  a  while, 
he  fully  shared  General  Braddock's  opinion 
that  neither  the  French  nor  the  Indians  could 
long  stand  against  such  a  splendid  veteran 
force,  and  his  faith  in  the  troops  was  only 
equaled  by  his  confidence  in  their  commander. 
The  moment  the  campaign  actually  opened, 
however,  the  new  staff  officer  was  far  less  fa- 
vorably impressed.  General  Braddock  had 
his  own  ideas  of  advancing  into  the  wilder- 
ness, and  the  route  he  was  persuaded  to  adopt, 
and  the  order  of  march  he  prescribed,  showed 
an  alarming  ignorance  of  what  lay  before  him, 
and  a  foolish  disregard  of  the  best  advice. 
Nevertheless,  Washington  watched  the  army 
depart  with  more  amusement  than  dismay, 
thinking  that  the  road  which  had  been  chosen 
for  it  and  the  absurd  amount  of  its  baggage 
would,  at  the  worst,  merely  delay  and  hamper 
its  movements,  and  that  such  mistakes  would 
correct  themselves.  In  the  meantime,  he  re- 
mained in  Virginia  to  settle  some  of  his  busi- 
ness affairs,  and  then  started  to  overtake  the 

66 


THE  BATTLE   OF  MONONGAHELA 

General.  Being  a  volunteer,  he  had  to  supply 
his  own  horses  and  equipment,  but  no  officer 
was  better  mounted  or  more  neatly  uniformed 
than  he  when  he  set  out  on  his  journey,  for 
even  as  a  boy  he  had  always  shown  a  proper 
regard  for  his  appearance,  and  Braddock  had 
every  reason  to  be  proud  of  the  young  Aide- 
de-Camp  who  joined  him  in  Maryland. 

By  this  time  the  General  was  fully  aware 
of  the  folly  of  the  route  he  had  taken,  but  he 
had  apparently  not  benefited  by  the  lesson,  for 
he  was  still  unwilling  to  leave  his  ponderous 
baggage  behind  him,  so  for  weeks  the  army 
made  but  little  progress.  Washington  re- 
spectfully informed  him  that  it  would  be  im- 
possible to  drag  the  heavy  artillery  and  lum- 
bering baggage  trains  through  the  mountain 
wilderness,  but  Braddock  merely  grew  impa- 
tient, complaining  that  the  colonists  were  not 
giving  him  proper  assistance  and  roundly 
abusing  the  whole  country.  He  had  always 
found  proper  roads  prepared  for  his  forces  in 
Europe,  and  had  always  carried  the  amount 
of  baggage  he  had  brought  with  him  on  this 
expedition,  and  to  his  mind  there  was  no  other 
way  of  marching.  Washington  protested  and 
argued  more  and  more  warmly  as  time  went 

67 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

on,  but  no  attention  was  paid  to  his  advice, 
and,  as  lie  expressed  it,  the  army  halted  "  to 
level  every  molehill  and  to  erect  bridges  over 
every  brook,"  until  it  advanced  scarcely  more 
than  three  miles  a  day,  and  sickness  began  to 
break  out  among  the  troops.  Meanwhile,  he 
himself  fell  ill  and  had  to  be  left  behind,  and 
for  some  weeks  he  despaired  of  recovery  in 
time  to  take  part  in  the  battle  with  the  French. 
Finally,  however,  he  persuaded  the  surgeon 
to  allow  him  to  start  on  again  in  a  wagon,  and 
after  a  painful  journey  he  rejoined  the  Gen- 
eral near  the  Monongahela  River. 

The  Monongahela  was  a  stream  f  ordable  at 
a  point  some  eight  miles  from  Fort  Duquesne, 
the  stronghold  of  the  French,  and  on  July  9, 
1755,  at  the  moment  of  Washington's  arrival 
on  the  scene,  Braddock  was  preparing  to  push 
his  troops  through  the  ford  and  attempt  to 
carry  the  fortress  by  assault.  This  was  the 
event  in  which  the  young  Virginian  had 
longed  to  participate,  and  though  he  was  still 
far  from  well  he  instantly  mounted  a  horse 
and  reported  himself  ready  for  duty  in  the 
field.  The  General  had  by  this  time  partially 
adopted  the  advice  of  his  volunteer  Aide,  for 
he  had  abandoned  his  heaviest  artillery  and 

68 


THE   BATTLE   OF  MONONGAHELA 

baggage  and  divided  his  forces,  his  advance 
party  consisting  of  a  small  body  of  Virginian 
troops  and  more  than  a  thousand  regulars,  but 
such  was  his  contempt  for  the  enemy,  that 
although  he  had  been  warned  to  beware  of  In- 
dian ambuscades,  he  ordered  the  troops  to 
cross  the  stream  without  throwing  out  skir- 
mishers or  making  any  search  of  the  woods 
which  lay  just  beyond  the  landing  place  on  the 
farther  shore.  Fully  alive  to  the  danger  of 
this  proceeding,  Washington  strongly  advised 
some  such  measure  of  precaution,  and  the 
same  warning  had  already  been  given  by  no 
less  a  person  than  Benjamin  Franklin,  but 
Braddock's  only  reply  was  to  assure  him  that 
disciplined  British  regulars  had  no  need  to 
fear  the  maneuvers  or  tricks  of  savages. 

The  boast  seemed  almost  justified,  for  as 
the  veteran  troops  swept  forward  in  their  bril- 
liant uniforms,  with  all  the  order  and  precision 
of  a  regiment  on  review,  they  looked  invinci- 
ble, and  the  straggling  company  of  Virginians 
in  their  not  too  clean  hunting  costumes  made 
a  sorry  showing  by  comparison.  On  the  other 
side  of  the  river  stretched  a  wide  clearing 
fringed  with  forest-covered  hills,  and  across 
this  natural  parade  ground  swung  the  bright 

69 


ON   THE    TRAIL    OF   WASHINGTON 

array,  their  arms  glittering,  their  flags  flying, 
and  their  drummers  gayly  beating  a  tattoo. 
It  was  a  spectacle  to  stir  even  the  most  slug- 
gish blood,  but  as  Washington  followed  it  with 
admiring  gaze  a  loud  cry  suddenly  rent  the 
air,  the  crack  of  a  rifle  followed,  and  instantly 
from  the  thickly  wooded  heights  a  storm  of 
bullets  struck  the  well-ordered  ranks,  while  on 
all  sides  the  air  resounded  with  the  yells  of 
hidden  marksmen  and  the  woods  flashed  and 
smoked  with  the  discharge  of  their  deadly 
weapons. 

No  bush  fighter  of  Virginia  needed  to  be 
told  the  meaning  of  those  sounds.  The  troops 
had  marched  into  the  deadliest  sort  of  ambush, 
and  those  who  understood  what  had  happened 
knew  that  unless  they  were  speedily  extricated 
not  a  man  of  them  would  be  left  alive  to  tell 
the  tale.  Already  scores  of  victims  lay  dead 
upon  the  field,  and  those  that  survived  were 
huddling  together  in  panic-stricken  confusion. 
At  the  first  volley  the  Virginians  instantly 
spread  out,  each  man  taking  cover  behind  a 
tree,  after  the  Indian  method  of  fighting,  and 
Washington,  dashing  toward  the  dazed  and 
helpless  masses,  vainly  besought  Braddock 
and  his  fellow-officers  to  shelter  their  men  in 

70 


THE   BATTLE   OF   MONONGAHELA 

the  same  manner.  But  no  English  forces  had 
ever  been  handled  in  such  fashion,  and  hiding 
behind  trees  seemed  to  Braddock  like  coward- 
ice in  the  presence  of  the  enemy.  He,  there- 
fore, actually  ordered  the  standard-bearers  to 
advance  the  colors  and  plant  them  in  the 
ground  as  rallying  points  for  his  fast-disap- 
pearing forces,  and  there  he  re-formed  them 
into  solid  shoulder-to-shoulder  ranks,  where 
they  made  perfect  targets  for  the  enemy  and 
did  far  more  damage  to  their  friends  than 
their  foes  by  firing  blind  volleys  at  every  puff 
of  smoke. 

Aghast  as  he  was  at  this  fatal  stupidity, 
Washington  made  desperate  efforts  to  save 
the  day  by  bringing  the  artillery  into  action, 
even  helping  to  serve  one  of  the  guns  himself, 
but  long  before  a  crisis  was  reached  the  vet- 
erans were  seized  with  wild  panic  and 
streamed  away  in  headlong  flight,  some  of 
them  cutting  the  artillery  horses  from  their 
traces  and  galloping  away  in  abject  terror. 
All  that  personal  bravery  and  example  could 
do  to  check  this  disgraceful  stampede  the  Eng- 
lish officers  did,  no  less  than  sixty  falling  in 
vain  attempts  to  rally  their  men,  and  among 
the  survivors  were  Horatio  Grates  and  Thomas 

71 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

Gage,  two  officers  who  were  destined  to  be 
well  known  in  future  years.  Washington  him- 
self displayed  such  reckless  daring  that  the 
Indians,  firing  at  him  again  and  again,  are 
said  to  have  believed  that  he  bore  a  charmed 
life.  Twice  his  horse  was  shot  from  under 
him  and  four  bullets  passed  through  his  cloth- 
ing, but  he  remained  unharmed,  and  when 
Braddock  fell,  mortally  wounded,  and  only  a 
few  officers  remained  alive,  he  assumed  com- 
mand and  with  the  Virginians  covered  the 
fugitives'  retreat.  It  was  no  easy  task,  how- 
ever, to  escape  with  even  a  handful  of  men, 
for  the  French  realized  the  opportunity  that 
lay  before  them  and  shot  down  every  strag- 
gler, while  the  Indians,  emerging  from  the 
forest  with  yells  of  triumph,  scalped  the 
wounded  and  plundered  the  dead.  Indeed,  if 
the  enemy  had  not  stopped  to  seize  the  cannon 
and  other  trophies  of  victory,  it  is  extremely 
doubtful  if  even  a  remnant  of  the  troops 
would  have  escaped,  but  as  it  was,  by  hard 
riding  Washington  managed  to  reach  the  rear 
division  of  the  army  and  bring  it  up  to  the 
support  of  the  disorganized  fugitives.  The 
commander  of  this  relieving  force  then  as- 
sumed charge,  but  he  had  been  so  thoroughly 

72 


THE   BATTLE   OF   MONONGAHELA 

frightened  by  what  he  had  seen  and  heard  that 
he  ordered  the  retreat  to  continue,  and  the 
whole  army  fell  back  as  rapidly  as  possible 
toward  Fort  Cumberland,  sixty  miles  away. 

In  the  meantime,  Braddock  died  of  his 
wounds  and  the  regimental  Chaplain  having 
fallen  in  the  battle,  Washington  read  the 
burial  service  at  his  commander's  grave,  over 
which  the  troops  and  artillery  were  marched 
to  conceal  all  trace  of  it  from  the  enemy  and 
their  savage  allies. 


CHAPTER   X 

THE  COMMANDER  OF  VIRGINIA'S  ARMY 

Humiliating  as  such  a  defeat  would  have 
been  under  any  circumstances,  it  became  abso- 
lutely shameful  when  the  news  arrived  that 
the  French  and  Indians  at  the  Monongahela 
ambush  had  not  numbered,  all  together,  over 
seven  hundred  men — scarcely  half  the  force 
under  Braddock — and  that  they  had  stumbled 
quite  unexpectedly  on  their  opponents  and 
had  never  hoped  to  do  more  than  delay  their 
advance.  In  the  face  of  this  disclosure  the 
rout  of  the  whole  British  army  and  the  aban- 
donment of  the  entire  campaign  set  all  Europe 
laughing,  and  in  Virginia,  as  well  as  in  the 
other  colonies,  the  survivors  of  the  expedition 
were  treated  with  anything  but  respect. 

Of  course,  most  of  the  blame  fell  upon  poor 
General  Braddock,  but  his  personal  bravery 
was  unquestioned,  which  was  more  than  could 
be  said  for  the  veterans  of  the  rear  division, 

74- 


COMMANDER  OF  VIRGINIA'S  ARMY 

who  had  scampered  away  without  waiting  to 
see  if  anybody  was  pursuing  them.  In  fact, 
the  only  persons  connected  with  the  affair 
whose  reputation  did  not  suffer  were  Wash- 
ington and  the  little  company  of  Virginians, 
whose  courage  and  coolness  had  virtually 
saved  the  army  from  utter  destruction.  Wash- 
ington was  especially  praised  for  his  con- 
duct, a  regimental  chaplain  referring  to  him 
in  a  sermon  at  that  time  as  "  that  heroic 
youth  whom  I  cannot  but  hope  Providence 
has  hitherto  preserved  in  so  singular  a  man- 
ner for  some  important  service  to  his  coun- 
try," and  about  a  month  after  the  battle  he 
was  offered  the  command  of  all  the  Virginian 
forces. 

This  was  unquestionably  a  high  honor  for  a 
man  not  yet  twenty-four  years  old,  but  Wash- 
ington was  by  no  means  eager  to  reenter  the 
service,  preferring  to  remain  at  Mount  Vernon 
and  resume  work  on  his  plantations.  In  the 
first  place,  he  did  not  feel  that  he  knew  enough 
about  military  matters  to  take  the  chief  com- 
mand, and  in  the  second  place,  his  mother  was 
extremely  unwilling  that  he  should  again  risk 
his  life  in  the  wilderness,  while  he  himself  felt 
that  he  had  lost  far  more  than  he  had  gained 

75 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

in  the  previous  expeditions.  Nevertheless, 
when  he  was  convinced  that  the  people  of  Vir- 
ginia really  needed  him  and  that  he  would  re- 
ceive sufficient  authority  to  raise  an  effective 
force,  he  accepted  the  appointment  and  at 
once  set  to  work  at  his  duties. 

A  more  discouraging  task  than  that  of  or- 
ganizing an  army  from  the  raw  materials  with 
which  he  was  supplied  can  scarcely  be  imag- 
ined, and  from  the  very  outset  he  met  with  an- 
noyances and  delays  of  every  kind.  Both 
patriotism  and  money  were  lacking,  and  de- 
spite his  best  efforts,  he  never  had  sufficient 
men  to  guard  the  frontier  or  protect  the  set- 
tlers who  were  being  continually  attacked  by 
the  Indians.  Nevertheless,  he  managed,  by 
strict  discipline  and  untiring  work,  to  main- 
tain some  sort  of  fighting  force  for  six  months 
and  to  keep  the  enemy  in  check  by  constant 
skirmishing.  Then  an  English  captain  com- 
manding a  handful  of  men  appeared  on  the 
scene  and  claimed  to  be  his  superior  officer, 
on  the  ground  that  he  held,  or  had  once  held,  a 
commission  from  the  King.  To  this  Washing- 
ton would  not  submit,  and  he  at  once  obtained 
leave  of  absence  to  visit  Boston  and  have  Gen- 
eral Shirley,  who  had  been  appointed  Com- 

76    - 


COMMANDER  OF  VIRGINIA'S  ARMY 

mander-in-Chief  after  Braddock's  death,  set- 
tle the  dispute. 

Accordingly,  he  started  out  on  horseback, 
accompanied  by  two  officers  and  two  servants, 
and  a  gallant  appearance  the  little  company 
must  have  made,  for,  being  on  an  official  mis- 
sion, Washington  wore  his  dress  uniform  of 
blue  and  red,  with  a  white-and-scarlet  cloak 
and  a  sword  knot  of  silver  and  blue,  while  his 
Aides  were  similarly  attired,  and  the  serv- 
ants wore  white-and-scarlet  liveries  and  hats 
trimmed  with  silver  lace.  This  was  the  first 
time  he  had  ever  been  north  of  Philadelphia, 
but  not  only  in  that  city  but  in  New  York, 
New  London,  Providence,  and  Boston,  his 
record  as  a  soldier  was  known  and  he  received 
enough  flattering  attentions  to  have  turned  a 
far  older  head.  He  was  not,  however,  in  the 
least  spoiled,  and  after  enjoying  all  the  din- 
ners and  dances  and  entertainments  to  which 
he  was  invited,  and  securing  his  right  of  com- 
mand over  the  officious  captain,  he  rode  back 
to  Virginia,  and  resumed  his  duties  with  fresh 
energy. 

Almost  two  years  of  vexatious  work  fol- 
lowed, but  in  that  time  he  received  the  most 
invaluable  lessons  of  his  career.  For  a  while 
■    77 


ON   THE    TRAIL   OF   WASHINGTON 

his  temper  and  his  tongue  continued  to  get  the 
better  of  him,  and  the  stupidity  and  neglect 
of  the  government  officials  and  others  with 
whom  he  had  to  work  frequently  roused  him 
to  great  outbursts  of  wrath.  But  little  by  lit- 
tle he  learned  that  anger  and  impatience 
rarely  accomplish  anything  and  that  he 
would  never  be  fitted  to  command  others  if 
he  could  not  control  himself.  Even  by  the  end 
of  the  campaign  he  had  not  acquired  calmness 
and  patience,  but  during  this  time  he  grad- 
ually realized  that  the  less  quarrels  and  dis- 
putes he  had,  the  more  work  he  accomplished 
and  that  every  loss  of  temper  meant  a  loss  of 
time.  Moreover,  he  fully  recognized  the  truth 
of  the  saying  that  it  is  a  poor  workman  who  is 
always  finding  fault  with  his  tools,  and  instead 
of  complaining  of  his  difficulties  and  seeking 
excuses,  he  acquired  the  habit  of  making  one 
thing  serve  when  he  could  not  get  another. 
All  this  was  a  hard,  wearing  experience,  how- 
ever, and  late  in  1757  he  became  so  ill  that  he 
was  obliged  to  retire  to  Mount  Vernon  for  sev- 
eral months  without  attempting  to  resume 
active  service. 

Meanwhile,  General  Forbes,  another  Brit- 
ish officer,  was  given  supreme  command  of  all 

78 


COMMANDER  OF  VIRGINIA'S  ARMY 

the  colonial  and  regular  forces  in  the  local 
field,  and  Washington  once  more  started  for 
the  scene  of  action.  He  soon  found,  however, 
that  although  the  lesson  of  Braddock's  defeat 
had  not  been  lost  upon  the  new  General,  the 
campaign,  as  a  whole,  was  miserably  handled. 
Indeed,  the  second  march  against  Fort  Du- 
quesne  was  not  much  more  than  well  under 
way  before  another  force  of  British  and  pro- 
vincial troops  was  ambushed  and  shot  to 
pieces,  and  had  it  not  been  for  a  decisive  de- 
feat of  the  French  in  Canada,  which  occurred 
about  this  time,  it  is  highly  probable  that  the 
entire  expedition  would  have  ended  in  failure. 
As  it  was,  however,  the  enemy  finally  set  fire 
to  the  fort  and  abandoned  it,  and  Washington, 
leading  the  foremost  troops,  took  possession 
of  it  on  November  25, 1758,  without  a  struggle. 
With  the  raising  of  the  English  colors  on  its 
smoking  ruins  Fort  Duquesne  was  re- 
christened  Fort  Pitt,  in  honor  of  the  great 
English  statesman,  and  from  this  historic 
fortress  sprang  the  present  city  of  Pittsburg. 
Thus  ended  a  campaign  which  had  practi- 
cally lasted  for  four  years,  during  which 
Washington  had  developed  from  a  daring  offi- 
cer into  a  well-disciplined  commander.     He 

79 


ON   THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

had  learned  much  from  the  professional  sol- 
diers of  England  with  whom  he  had  been 
thrown  in  contact,  but  perhaps  the  most  im- 
portant thing  was  the  knowledge  that  they 
were  not  invincible,  as  he  had  formerly  sup- 
posed, and  that  the  colonial  troops  fighting  in 
their  own  country  were  a  match  for  any  men. 
Little  did  he  then  dream  how  useful  this 
knowledge  was  to  prove  to  him  during  the 
coming  years. 


CHAPTER   XI 

PLANTATION   DAYS 

Shortly  before  the  campaign  against  Fort 
Duquesne  began,  Washington  had  occasion  to 
travel  to  the  seat  of  government  at  Williams- 
burg, and  on  the  road  he  fell  in  with  a  friend 
who  persuaded  him  to  stop  for  dinner  at  his 
house.  There  he  met  Mrs.  Martha  Custis,  a 
young  widow,  with  whom  he  fell  in  love  at 
first  sight,  and  within  a  few  days  they  were 
engaged.  Six  months  later  they  were  mar- 
ried, the  wedding  occurring  on  January  6, 
1759,  in  the  presence  of  a  small  but  distin- 
guished company,  for  Washington,  although 
not  yet  twenty-seven,  had  become  a  person  of 
no  little  importance  in  the  colony  through  his 
command  of  its  army.  Among  the  guests  were 
the  Governor  of  Virginia,  resplendent  in  his 
official  costume  of  scarlet  and  gold;  English 
and  colonial  officers  in  their  dress  uniforms, 
and  ladies  in  picturesque  gowns,  making  as 

81 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

brilliant  a  scene  as  was  ever  witnessed  in  Vir- 
ginia. The  bride  was  becomingly  attired  in 
white  silk,  shot  with  threads  of  silver,  and 
Washington  wore  a  costume  of  blue  and  sil- 
ver, trimmed  with  scarlet ;  his  knee  and  shoe 
buckles  were  of  gold,  and  at  his  side  he  car- 
ried a  light  dress  sword.  After  the  ceremony, 
which  occurred  at  what  was  known  as  "  the 
White  House,"  the  bride  drove  off  in  a  coach 
and  six,  with  Washington  riding  beside  her 
carriage  on  one  of  his  favorite  horses,  at- 
tended by  a  cavalcade  of  officers  and  other 
gentlemen  of  the  wedding  party,  who  accom- 
panied him  and  his  lady  several  miles  across 
country  to  Mrs.  Washington's  residence  in 
Williamsburg. 

Here  the  newly  married  couple  lived  for 
several  months,  in  order  that  Washington 
might  attend  the  meetings  of  the  burgesses. 
The  burgesses  were  men  selected  from  the  va- 
rious counties  of  Virginia  to  make  the  laws 
for  the  colony,  and  Washington  had  been 
elected  as  one  of  these  lawmakers  during  his 
last  campaign.  Indeed,  he  made  his  first  ap- 
pearance in  the  House  of  Burgesses,  as  their 
place  of  meeting  was  called,  shortly  after  his 
marriage,  and  was  much  embarrassed  to  find 

82 


PLANTATION   DAYS 

himself  welcomed  with  an  address,  thanking 
him  in  the  name  of  Virginia  for  his  services 
during  the  war.  Astonished  by  this  public 
praise,  he  rose  to  reply,  but  no  words  came  to 
him  and  he  stood  blushing  with  confusion  un- 
til the  speaker  gracefully  came  to  his  rescue : 
"  Sit  down,  Mr.  Washington/ '  he  remarked; 
"  your  modesty  equals  your  valor,  and  that 
surpasses  the  power  of  any  language  I  pos- 
sess." 

As  soon  as  his  official  duties  permitted, 
Washington  set  out  for  Mount  Vernon,  where 
he  and  his  wife  intended  to  make  their  home, 
and  here  he  was  soon  busily  engaged.  Mount 
Vernon  had  not  changed  much  since  he  had 
come  to  know  and  love  it  as  a  boy.  The  cozy 
farmhouse,  erected  by  his  father  and  improved 
by  his  brother  Lawrence,  still  stood  on  the  hill- 
side above  the  Potomac  River  on  which  he 
had  fished  and  rowed  and  sailed;  the  well- 
known  woods,  with  their  splendid  trees,  still 
fringed  the  fields,  reminding  him  of  his  boy- 
hood haunts  and  rambles ;  and  the  barns  and 
pastures,  where  he  had  made  friends  with  the 
horses  and  learned  to  ride,  remained  much  the 
same.  In  fact,  the  whole  place  welcomed  him 
back  with  familiar  arms,  and  for  the  first  time 

83 


ON   THE    TRAIL   OF   WASHINGTON 

in  many  years  he  once  more  felt  himself  at 
home.  It  was  to  no  life  of  idleness  or  luxury, 
however,  that  he  returned,  for  he  was  ambi- 
tious to  succeed  as  a  farmer,  and  to  make 
Mount  Vernon  the  model  plantation  of  Vir- 
ginia. With  this  purpose  he  began  studying 
the  best  methods  of  raising  crops,  and  plan- 
ning for  new  and  more  convenient  buildings, 
with  the  result  that  a  carpenter's  shop,  a 
blacksmith's  forge,  a  flour  mill,  a  spinning 
house,  and  sheds  for  curing  and  packing  to- 
bacco were  soon  erected,  and  much  that  was 
used  on  the  farm,  from  clothes  to  plows,  was 
made  directly  on  the  place. 

All  this  required  hard  work,  and  Wash- 
ington superintended  almost  every  detail  him- 
self, even  fashioning  new  implements  for  the 
fields  with  his  own  hands  and  keeping  all  his 
own  acounts,  besides  visiting  his  slaves  and 
personally  looking  to  their  welfare  in  time  of 
illness  or  other  need.  Moreover,  Mount  Ver- 
non was  not  the  only  property  which  de- 
manded his  attention,  for  Mrs.  Washington 
and  his  stepchildren,  Jack  and  Patsey  Custis, 
had  lands  which  were  intrusted  to  his  care, 
and  on  them  he  bestowed  the  same  intelligent 
thought.    Altogether,  he  had  more  to  do  than 

84 


PLANTATION   DAYS 

most  men  could  possibly  have  accomplished, 
and  it  was  at  this  period  that  the  methodical 
and  orderly  habits  he  had  acquired  as  a  boy 
proved  invaluable.  Instead  of  being  worried 
and  hurried  by  his  various  duties;  he  per- 
formed them  all  very  calmly  and  systemati- 
cally,  doing  one  thing  at  a  time  and  arranging 
his  hours  of  work  so  that  he  never  wasted  any 
time  and  always  had  plenty  to  spare.  Of 
course,  he  liked  and  took  pride  in  his  work,  or 
he  would  not  have  done  it  so  well,  but  he  en- 
joyed every  kind  of  healthy  sport  just  as 
much  as  he  had  ever  done,  and  each  day  he 
managed  to  find  some  opportunity  for  his 
favorite  pastimes. 

Always  a  lover  of  riding,  he  had  many 
fine  horses  in  his  stables,  of  which  his  fa- 
vorites were  "  Magnolia,"  an  Arabian  thor- 
oughbred, and  "  Ajax,"  and  u  Valiant,"  while 
in  his  kennels  were  the  hounds,  "  Sweetlips," 
" Chanter,"  "Mopsey,"  "Music,"  "Sancho," 
i  i  Singer, "  "  Forester, "  ' '  Busy, "  "  Ragman, ' ' 
"  Tartar,"  the  water  dog,  "  Pilot,"  and  other 
four-footed  friends.  Indeed,  during  the  sea- 
son the  fox  hunters  met  three  time  a  week, 
sometimes  at  the  Fairfaxes',  but  quite  as  often 
at  Mount  Vernon,  for  the  woods  about  it  were 

85 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

famous  as  coverts,  and  there  was  nowhere  in 
Virginia  a  better  pack  of  hounds.  Indeed,  a 
more  perfect  spot  for  a  meet  it  would  be  dif- 
ficult to  imagine — the  splendid  woods,  the  com- 
fortable farmhouse,  the  wide  sweep  of  turf, 
the  silent,  shining  river,  the  magnificent  view, 
all  combining  to  make  an  ideal  setting  for  the 
gentlemen  in  blue  and  pink,  with  their  spirited 
horses  and  their  well-trained  dogs.  Washing- 
ton usually  wore  a  blue  coat,  scarlet  waistcoat, 
buckskin  breeches,  and  a  velvet  cap  on  these 
occasions,  and  he  was  generally  accompanied 
by  General  Braddock's  old  orderly,  Bishop, 
somewhat  similarly  attired  and  carrying  a 
French  horn  for  calling  the  dogs.  Fox  hunting 
was  not,  however,  Washington's  only  diver- 
sion, for  he  was  fond  of  fishing  and  shooting, 
but  he  had  a  positive  disgust  for  men  who 
slaughtered  game  merely  for  the  sake  of  the 
killing,  and  loathed  cruel  and  unsportsmanlike 
conduct  of  any  kind.  Billiards  and  card  play- 
ing he  likewise  enjoyed,  and  busy  as  he  was,  he 
still  found  time  to  attend  all  the  dinners, 
dances,  and  entertainments  of  the  neighbor- 
hood, while  his  own  house  was  famed  for  hos- 
pitality. 

For  six  happy  years  he  lived  this  active 
86 


PLANTATION    DAYS 

but  simple  and  healthy  life,  using  his  brains 
to  make  his  land  pay  and  gaining  such  a  repu- 
tation for  honesty  and  fair  dealing  that  his 
brands  of  flour  were  passed  without  govern- 
ment inspection  at  home  and  foreign  ports, 
and  brought  the  highest  prices  on  the  market. 
It  was  also  an  unselfish  life,  for  there  were 
many  people  on  his  own  plantation  and  among 
his  neighbors  who  depended  upon  him  for 
help,  and  his  daily  entries  in  the  diary,  which 
he  kept  during  this  whole  period,  show  that 
he  constantly  thought  and  planned  for  others 
far  more  than  he  did  for  himself.  To  his  pub- 
lic duties  he  was  particularly  attentive,  sel- 
dom missing  a  meeting  of  the  House  of  Bur- 
gesses and  taking  the  keenest  interest  in  all 
political  questions. 

Thus,  on  May  29, 1765,  when  one  of  the  new 
members  rose  to  address  the  House  on  the  sub- 
ject of  the  taxation  of  the  colonies  by  Eng- 
land, he  was  an  attentive  listener.  This  new 
member  was  a  young  lawyer  named  Patrick 
Henry,  and  his  speech,  which  boldly  warned 
England  not  to  tax  the  American  colonies 
without  their  consent,  lingered  in  Washing- 
ton's memory  long  after  he  returned  to  the 
quiet  of  Mount  Vernon. 

87 


CHAPTER   XII 

WAR   CLOUDS 

Virginians  had  for  sometime  past  been 
openly  expressing  their  resentment  at  the 
treatment  they  were  receiving  from  the  mother 
country,  but  Washington  was  not  the  sort  of 
man  who  makes  up  his  mind  in  a  hurry.  He 
saw  that  the  King  of  England  and  his  advisers 
were  attempting  a  very  foolish  and  a  very 
dangerous  thing  in  forcing  the  people  of 
America  to  pay  taxes  without  consulting  their 
wishes,  but  he  believed  they  would  discover 
their  mistake,  and  before  long  the  Stamp  Tax, 
which  had  aroused  the  fiercest  opposition,  was 
abandoned.  For  a  while,  therefore,  it  seemed 
as  though  there  would  be  no  further  difficulty, 
but  trouble  soon  broke  out  again  when  the 
English  Government  renewed  its  interference 
with  Massachusetts  and  the  other  colonies, 
and  from  that  time  on  the  quarrel  grew  more 
serious  every  year. 

88 


WAR    CLOUDS 

Probably  no  one  who  saw  Washington  at- 
tending to  his  daily  duties  at  Mount  Vernon 
during  this  period  imagined  that  he  was  par- 
ticularly interested  in  the  rights  or  wrongs  of 
America.  Apparently,  he  was  absorbed  in  his 
fields,  his  horses,  his  dogs,  and  his  friends, 
and  the  notes  which  he  recorded  from  day  to 
day  in  his  diary  refer  almost  entirely  to  hap- 
penings at  his  home.  To-day  "  Mopsey  "  had 
eight  puppies ;  yesterday  Lord  Fairfax  dined 
and  spent  the  night  preparatory  to  fox  hunt- 
ing on  the  morrow;  sowed  wheat  to-day  at 
the  mill;  worked  on  the  new  road;  planned 
for  the  gardens;  finished  the  frame  for 
the  barn;  anointed  all  the  hounds  (old  dogs 
as  well  as  puppies)  with  hogs'  lard  and 
brimstone  for  the  mange;  Patsey  Custis  ill 
yesterday — sent  for  the  doctor;  took  Jacky 
Custis  to  his  tutor's;  played  cards  indoors  to- 
day, as  it  was  snowing;  dined  with  guests  at 
home. 

So  run  the  entries  telling  how  and  where 
Washington  spent  his  time.  They  do  not, 
however,  tell  his  thoughts;  they  say  little  or 
nothing  of  himself  or  of  his  own  opinions. 
Yet,  in  the  House  of  Burgesses,  where  he 
rarely  spoke,  though  he  listened  closely  to  all 

89 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

that  was  being  said;  at  his  own  table,  where 
he  and  his  guests  often  sat  talking  until  late 
at  night;  in  correspondence  with  his  friends, 
and  in  the  restful  seclusion  of  his  fields  and 
woods,  Washington  was  slowly  making  up  his 
mind  which  side  to  take  in  the  coming  strug- 
gle, and  when  he  had  once  decided,  he  never 
wavered  for  an  instant.  Thus,  in  1769,  when 
the  Governor  of  Virginia  closed  the  House 
of  Burgesses  and  dismissed  its  members  to 
their  homes  as  a  punishment  for  having  pro- 
tested against  England's  treatment  of  Massa- 
chusetts, it  was  Washington  who  addressed 
them  at  a  neighboring  house,  and  proposed 
that  Virginia  should  immediately  stop  buy- 
ing tea  and  certain  other  articles  from  Eng- 
land until  she  behaved  fairly  to  Massachu- 
setts. Some  of  the  men  who  promised  to 
do  this  did  not  keep  their  word,  but  from  that 
hour  Washington  would  never  allow  an  ounce 
of  tea  in  his  house,  or  buy  any  of  the  forbid- 
den merchandise.  Nevertheless,  he  did  not 
yet  believe  that  it  would  be  necessary  for  the 
colonies  to  fight  for  their  rights,  and  he  re- 
sumed his  quiet  life  at  Mount  Vernon  with  no 
apparent  fears  for  the  future. 

All  this  time  his  work  was  increasing  enor- 
90 


WAR    CLOUDS 

mously,  and  before  long  lie  was  managing  not 
only  his  own  plantations  and  those  of  his  step- 
children, but  also  his  mother's  property  and 
the  estate  of  his  brother  Augustine,  who  had 
died,  besides  taking  charge  of  the  affairs 
of  Colonel  Fairfax  and  several  other  neigh- 
bors who  had  gone  to  England,  or  otherwise 
needed  his  assistance.  Notwithstanding  all 
these  cares,  he  still  found  time  to  hunt  and 
shoot  and  fish,  to  attend  boat  races,  barbecues, 
dinners,  and  dances,  and  to  revisit,  and  in  a 
measure  reexplore  the  region  of  the  Ohio 
where  he  had  gained  his  first  experience  as  a 
surveyor  and  a  soldier. 

It  was  in  the  midst  of  all  these  activities 
that  unwelcome  news  disturbed  the  quiet  of 
his  life.  The  English  Government,  it  ap- 
peared, was  about  to  send  troops  to  Boston 
and  close  its  port,  and  the  Virginian  Burgesses 
at  once  protested  so  indignantly  that  they 
were  again  ordered  to  disperse.  Before  they 
did  so,  however,  they  resolved  that  June  1, 
1774,  the  date  appointed  for  closing  the  port 
of  Boston,  should  be  made  an  occasion  of 
prayer  and  fasting  in  Virginia,  and  Washing- 
ton's diary  records  that  he  attended  church 
and  fasted  all  that  day.    Two  months  later  a 

91 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

meeting  was  held  to  choose  delegates  to  the 
first  Continental  Congress  to  be  held  at  Phil- 
adelphia, and  here  Washington,  usually  silent 
on  such  occasions,  spoke  briefly,  but  to  the 
point.  "  I  will  raise  a  thousand  men,  enlist 
them  at  my  own  expense,  and  march  myself  at 
their  head  for  the  relief  of  Boston,"  he  volun- 
teered. 

The  effect  of  such  a  statement  from  a  man 
who  rarely  spoke  and  was  known  to  be  on 
friendly  terms  with  the  Governor  and  other 
royal  officials  made  a  profound  sensation. 
"  It  was  the  most  eloquent  speech  that  was 
ever  made,"  declared  one  of  those  who  heard 
it,  and  many  believed  that  it  meant  that  the 
hour  for  fighting  had  arrived.  The  only  im- 
mediate result,  however,  was  the  election  of 
Washington,  Patrick  Henry,  and  five  others 
to  represent  Virginia  at  the  Philadelphian 
Congress,  which  contented  itself  with  sending 
a  masterly  message  to  the  King  and  the  people 
of  Great  Britain,  explaining  the  whole  diffi- 
culty and  respectfully  demanding  fair  treat- 
ment for  all  the  American  colonies.  Wash- 
ington took  no  part  in  the  long  discussions 
which  led  to  this  action,  but  he  carefully  lis- 
tened to  all  that  was  said,  and  returned  to  Vir- 

92 


WAR   CLOUDS 

ginia  more  thoroughly  convinced  than  ever 
of  the  justice  of  the  cause. 

It  was  soon  apparent  that  neither  the  King 
nor  the  Parliament  would  pay  any  attention 
to  the  Continental  Congress,  and  Virginia 
and  the  other  colonies  reluctantly  commenced 
preparing  for  war.  Many  of  Washington's 
neighbors  thought  as  he  did,  but  not  all  of 
them,  for  Lord  Fairfax  and  his  family  sup- 
ported the  King.  Washington  did  not,  how- 
ever, quarrel  with  them  on  this  account,  and 
before  many  years  had  passed  he  was  able  to 
show  that  he  had  not  forgotten  their  kindness 
to  him  in  his  boyhood  days.  In  March,  1775, 
some  of  the  Virginian  troops  began  offering 
to  put  themselves  under  his  command,  among 
others  a  company  raised  by  one  of  his  broth- 
ers, and  at  the  same  time  he  was  summoned  to 
attend  another  convention  to  elect  the  dele- 
gates from  Virginia  to  the  second  Continental 
Congress,  which  was  to  assemble  at  Phila- 
delphia the  following  May,  and  again  consult 
as  to  the  best  means  of  protecting  the  colonies. 
At  this  convention  Patrick  Henry  made  a 
great  speech,  calling  upon  all  Americans  to 
rise  and  fight  for  their  independence.  "  Is 
life  so  dear  or  peace  so  sweet,"  he  demanded, 

93 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

"  as  to  be  purchased  at  the  price  of  chains  and 
slavery?  Forbid  it,  Almighty  God!  I  know 
not  what  course  others  may  take;  but  as  for 
me,  give  me  liberty — or  give  me  death!  " 

It  was  in  the  city  of  Eichmond  that  Wash- 
ington listened  to  those  thrilling  words,  but 
he  needed  no  urging  to  take  up  the  sword,  and 
when  he  was  again  elected  to  represent  Vir- 
ginia at  the  Congress,  he  had  already  accepted 
the  command  of  several  independent  military 
companies  and  expressed  his  full  intention  of 
devoting  his  life  and  fortune  to  the  cause. 
Nevertheless,  for  the  few  weeks  that  inter- 
vened between  the  Richmond  meeting  and  the 
opening  of  the  second  Continental  Congress, 
he  resumed  his  peaceful  occupations  at  Mount 
Vernon,  which,  under  his  constant  supervi- 
sion, had  become  not  only  one  of  the  most 
beautiful  but  also  one  of  the  most  highly  cul- 
tivated plantations  in  Virginia.  There  was 
no  display  about  the  place — nothing  costly  or 
magnificent,  but  the  roads,  the  hedges  of  box, 
the  old-fashioned  flower  gardens,  the  well- 
fenced  fields,  the  trimmed  paths,  and  all  the 
buildings  were  in  perfect  condition,  and  no 
more  homelike  spot  existed  in  the  colony  in 
the  Spring  of  1775. 

94 


WAR    CLOUDS 

Always  famed  for  its  hospitality,  it  wel- 
comed a  constant  throng  of  visitors  during 
April  of  that  year,  and  among  the  many 
guests  who  then  found  a  warm  reception,  were 
Charles  Lee,  an  ambitious  officer  who  had 
served  in  the  English  army,  and  Horatio 
Gates,  one  of  the  survivors  of  Braddock's  dis- 
astrous campaign.  Little  did  Washington 
imagine  as  he  rode  over  his  farm  with  those 
gentlemen,  or  sat  chatting  with  them  in  the 
dining  room,  what  experiences  he  was  to  have 
at  their  hands  within  the  next  few  years. 
Others  passed  in  and  out  of  the  hospitable 
mansion  during  those  weeks  with  whom  he 
was  likewise  to  have  business  of  vast  impor- 
tance, but  his  diary  records  merely  the  fact  of 
their  visits  and  nothing  of  their  conversation 
or  their  hopes  or  fears.  Perhaps  they  spoke 
only  of  the  prospects  of  the  crops  and  the 
beauty  of  the  country  under  the  touch  of 
Spring. 

On  the  morning  of  May  3,  1775,  several 
negro  servants  might  have  been  seen  walking 
up  and  down  before  the  simple  farmhouse, 
each  leading  a  saddle  horse  equipped  for  a 
long  journey.  One  of  them,  a  chestnut  named 
"  Nelson,"  with  a  white  face  and  four  white 

95 


ON   THE   TRAIL   OF   WASHINGTON 

feet,  bore  a  saddle  furnished  with  both  saddle 
bags  and  pistol  holsters,  and  when  Washing- 
ton, his  wife,  and  other  members  of  the  house- 
hold appeared  at  the  doorway,  the  groom 
quickly  led  this  favorite  into  place  and  held 
the  stirrup  while  his  master  sprang  lightly 
into  the  saddle.  There  were  a  few  words  of 
farewell,  and  then  as  Billy,  his  colored  body 
servant,  mounted  "  Blueskin,"  another  of  his 
favorite  hunters,  Washington  started  on  his 
second  journey  to  the  Continental  Congress  at 
Philadelphia,  never  dreaming  as  he  turned  to 
salute  the  group  on  the  doorstep  that  he  was 
saying  good-by  to  Mount  Vernon,  and  that 
eight  terrible  years  would  intervene  before  it 
gladdened  his  eyes  again. 


CHAPTER   XIII 

THE   COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF 

Before  the  representatives  from  Virginia 
reached  Philadelphia  messengers  came  hur- 
rying southward  with  tidings  of  the  battle  of 
Lexington,  and  when  Washington  appeared 
in  the  Continental  Congress  on  May  10,  1775, 
it  was  observed  that  he  wore  his  old  blue-and- 
red  uniform  which  he  had  worn  as  commander 
of  the  Virginian  forces  and  laid  aside  six- 
teen years  before.  That  was  his  method  of 
expressing  his  opinion  of  the  news. 

But  the  other  members  of  the  Congress 
were  not  even  then  ready  to  believe  that  the 
war  had  actually  begun,  and  for  more  than  a 
month  they  tried  to  keep  the  peace  between 
England  and  her  colonies,  in  spite  of  Patrick 
Henry's  angry  protest  that  "  there  was  no 
peace,"  and  the  fact  that  armed  Americans 
were  already  surrounding  Boston.  Finally, 
however,  it  became  absolutely  necessary  to  se- 

97 


ON   THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

lect  some  one  to  command  this  force,  and  the 
discussions  turned  on  the  proper  person  to 
receive  the  appointment.  Washington  was,  of 
course,  the  choice  of  Virginia,  but  John  Han- 
cock, of  Massachusetts,  and  several  others  de- 
sired the  position,  and  as  the  army  around 
Boston  was  composed  wholly  of  New  England 
men,  it  was  argued  that  they  would  be  indig- 
nant if  a  stranger  were  placed  over  them.  On 
the  other  hand,  John  Adams  and  some  of  the 
ablest  delegates  from  Massachusetts  saw  that 
it  would  not  do  to  offend  the  powerful  colony 
of  Virginia,  especially  as  her  candidate  had 
more  experience  and  reputation  as  a  soldier 
than  any  of  the  others,  and  they  urged  that 
the  other  colonies  yield  to  her  wishes. 

As  soon  as  his  name  was  mentioned  in 
these  discussions,  Washington  left  the  room, 
and  on  June  15,  1775,  he  was  formally  nomi- 
nated and  unanimously  elected  Commander- 
in-Chief  of  all  the  forces  in  the  field.  The  fol- 
lowing day  he  was  notified  of  this  fact  and  ac- 
cepted the  appointment  in  a  few  modest 
words,  promising  nothing  but  the  devotion  of 
all  his  powers  to  the  service  of  the  cause. 
"  But  lest  some  unlucky  event  should  happen 
unfavorable  to  my  reputation,"  he  added,  "  I 

98 


THE    COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF 

beg  it  may  be  remembered  by  every  gentleman 
in  the  room  that  I  this  day  declare,  with  the 
utmost  sincerity,  I  do  not  think  myself  equal 
to  the  command  I  am  honored  with.  As  to 
pay,  sir,"  he  continued,  addressing  the  Presi- 
dent, "  I  beg  leave  to  assure  the  Congress  that 
as  no  pecuniary  compensation  could  have 
tempted  me  to  accept  this  arduous  employ- 
ment, I  do  not  wish  to  make  any  profit  from 
it.  I  will  keep  an  exact  account  of  my  ex- 
penses. Those,  I  doubt  not,  they  will  dis- 
charge, and  that  is  all  I  desire.' '■ 

Soon  after  this  ceremony  was  completed, 
he  wrote  a  farewell  letter  to  Mrs.  Washington 
and  another  to  his  stepson  Jack  Custis,  tell- 
ing him  that  he  must  now  take  care  of  his 
mother  and  manage  his  own  property.  He 
also  wrote  to  the  officers  of  the  independent 
companies  of  Virginia,  which  had  placed 
themselves  under  his  direction,  and  bade 
adieu  to  his  brother  John  Augustine,  asking 
him  and  his  sister  to  visit  Mrs.  Washington 
and  stay  with  her  as  long  as  possible.  Then 
he  reviewed  the  Philadelphian  troops,  and  on 
June  23,  1775,  eight  days  after  his  appoint- 
ment, he  started  for  Boston,  accompanied  by 
General  Charles  Lee,  who  had  been  appointed 

99 


ON   THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

third  in  command.  Before  he  was  fairly  on 
the  road,  however,  he  was  met  by  a  dispatch 
rider,  informing  him  that  the  battle  of  Bunker 
Hill  had  been  fought,  and,  encouraged  by  the 
splendid  stand  which  the  American  troops  had 
made  against  the  English  regulars,  he  hur- 
ried on,  and  resting  only  one  night  at  King's 
Bridge,  New  York,  where  he  placed  General 
Philip  Schuyler  in  command,  reached  the 
American  camp  at  Cambridge  on  July  2,  1775. 
Here,  in  expectation  of  his  arrival,  the  word 
of  parole  had  been  made  Washington  and  the 
countersign  Virginia,  and  the  following  day 
he  took  command  of  the  army,  which  received 
him  with  enthusiastic  cheers,  his  reputation 
and  his  appearance  alike  inspiring  the  utmost 
confidence. 

Certainly  his  bearing  as  he  rode  past  the 
straggling  lines  of  farmers  and  minutemen 
left  nothing  to  be  desired,  his  tall,  athletic 
figure,  his  calm,  determined  face,  his  hand- 
some uniform,  and  his  superb  horsemanship 
all  combining  to  win  him  attention  and  re- 
spect. He  was  then  forty-three  years  of  age, 
and  although  he  weighed  almost  two  hundred 
pounds,  his  height  made  him  appear  slender, 
and  despite  the  years  that  had  elapsed  since 

100 


THE    COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF 

his  retirement  from  the  army,  he  had  nevei- 
lost  the  erect  carriage  of  a  soldier.  Alto- 
gether, he  was  in  as  perfect  condition  for  the 
work  that  lay  before  him  as  though  he  had 
been  in  training  for  it  all  his  life,  and  his  six- 
teen years'  experience  as  a  planter  had 
schooled  his  temper  and  given  him  a  knowl- 
edge of  men  and  business  such  as  few  military 
commanders  have  ever  possessed.  Probably 
those  who  appointed  him  never  thought  of 
him  as  a  systematic  man  of  business,  but  it 
was  fortunate  that  all  his  talents  were  not 
warlike,  for  the  immediate  situation  at  Bos- 
ton demanded  good  management  rather  than 
generalship.  For  the  time  being  the  English 
were  greatly  outnumbered  and  closely  con- 
fined within  the  limits  of  the  town,  but  there 
was  no  system  or  discipline  worthy  of  the 
name  among  the  American  troops,  and  no  one 
knew  exactly  what  forces  or  supplies  or  am- 
munition were  available. 

Washington's  first  task,  therefore,  was  to 
create  order  out  of  chaos,  and  before  he  had 
been  long  at  work  he  discovered  a  most  alarm- 
ing condition  of  affairs.  On  his  arrival  he  had 
been  informed  that  there  was  abundant  am- 
munition for  the  troops,  but  it  soon  appeared 

101 


ON    THE    TRAIL'   OF    WASHINGTON 

that  those  in  charge  of  this  matter  had  blun- 
dered terribly  and  that  there  was  practically 
no  powder  whatsoever.  Had  General  Gage, 
Braddock's  old  lieutenant,  who  commanded 
the  British  forces  in  Boston  during  the  early 
part  of  the  siege,  known  this,  he  could  have  sal- 
lied from  the  town  and  destroyed  the  whole 
American  army  almost  without  resistance, 
and  Washington  was  fairly  aghast  at  the  pos- 
sibility. Nevertheless,  it  would  not  do  for  him 
to  appear  alarmed,  so  he  concealed  the  facts 
as  far  as  possible  and  so  arranged  his  forces 
that  the  English  were  given  the  idea  that  he 
was  planning  an  immediate  attack.  This  suc- 
ceeded better  than  he  dared  hope,  for  General 
Gage,  remembering  Bunker  Hill,  did  not  ven- 
ture from  his  intrenchments,  and  General 
Howe,  who  succeeded  him,  was  even  less  ad- 
venturous. Still,  Washington  was  exceedingly 
anxious,  for  at  any  moment  a  spy  or  a  traitor 
might  inform  the  enemy  that  the  guns  which 
threatened  them  were  empty,  and  once  that 
was  known,  all  would  be  lost.  To  guard 
against  this  he  ordered  that  none  but  native 
Americans,  or  those  with  a  wife  or  family  in 
the  country,  should  be  appointed  as  sentries 
or  outposts.    Moreover,  every  effort  was  made 

102 


THE    COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF 

to  conceal  the  dangerous  situation  from  all  but 
the  highest  officers,  and  only  a  few  of  them 
were  intrusted  with  the  secret.  Gloomy  as 
this  state  of  affairs  was,  it  grew  worse  as  time 
wore  on,  for  the  troops  who  had  enlisted  for 
a  few  months'  service  began  departing  to 
their  homes,  and  while  he  kept  Howe's  twenty 
odd  regiments  constantly  in  fear  of  attack, 
Washington  actually  disbanded  one  army  and 
formed  another  almost  under  his  enemy's 
nose,  and  in  point  of  discipline  and  effective- 
ness the  second  army  was  a  vast  improvement 
on  the  first. 

Before  his  arrival  there  had  been  little  or 
no  personal  dignity  even  among  the  highest 
officers.  Indeed,  one  of  the  first  sights  that 
greeted  him  after  he  assumed  command  was 
General  Israel  Putnam  riding  into  camp  with 
an  old  woman  perched  behind  his  saddle  and 
though  the  Commander-in-Chief  laughed  till 
the  tears  rolled  down  his  cheeks  at  the  absurd 
appearance  of  the  old  Indian  fighter,  he  knew 
such  exhibitions  did  not  inspire  the  troops 
with  respect  for  their  superiors. 

The  truth  was,  however,  that  no  distinc- 
tions existed  between  the  officers  and  men. 
All  were  good  patriots  and  those  who  were 

103 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

placed  in  command  hesitated  to  give  orders, 
and  those  in  the  ranks  resented  receiving 
them.  In  fact,  the  whole  army  was  nothing 
but  a  mob,  and  an  unarmed  mob  at  that.  But 
Washington  understood  that  courage  and  pa- 
triotism alone  would  not  avail  against  a  dis- 
ciplined enemy,  and  day  after  day  he  labored 
with  infinite  tact  and  patience,  but  uncompro- 
mising firmness,  to  drive  this  lesson  home. 
Such  work  was  not  at  all  to  his  taste  and  had 
he  consulted  his  own  inclinations  he  would 
doubtless  have  preferred  to  lead  the  expedi- 
tion against  Quebec,  which  he  intrusted  to 
Benedict  Arnold.  There  was  no  glory  and 
very  little  credit  in  the  wearisome  task  of  or- 
ganizing an  effective  fighting  force.  Indeed, 
the  fact  that  the  men  were  enlisted  for  only  a 
few  months  at  a  time  practically  undid  his 
work  and  forced  him  to  do  it  over  and  over 
again,  but  how  faithfully  he  performed  this 
ungrateful  duty  can  be  seen  from  the  minute 
instructions  that  fill  his  Orderly  Books,  many 
of  which  are  still  in  existence.  Once  he  was 
sorely  tempted  to  make  a  real  instead  of  a 
pretended  attack  upon  Boston  early  in  the 
campaign,  despite  his  scanty  supply  of  pow- 
der, but  the  hesitation  of  his  officers  finally 

104 


THE    COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF 

made  him  realize  that  the  risk  would  be  too 
great. 

Meanwhile,  some  Virginian  troops  arrived, 
dressed  in  the  Indian  hunting  costume  he  had 
recommended  during  the  Ohio  campaign,  and 
after  more  than  six  months  of  weary  waiting 
a  fair  supply  of  powder  was  procured.  Al- 
most at  the  same  time  Henry  Knox  returned 
from  Fort  Ticonderoga,  where  he  had  been 
sent  to  bring  the  cannon  which  Ethan  Allen 
had  captured,  and  with  this  invaluable  mate- 
rial at  the  disposal  of  the  army,  preparations 
were  at  once  begun  for  closing  in  on  the 
enemy. 

A  range  of  hills  known  as  Dorchester 
Heights  overlooked  the  town,  and  if  Washing- 
ton could  distract  General  Howe's  attention 
until  he  had  time  to  fortify  this  position  he 
saw  that  he  would  hold  the  city  at  his  mercy. 
There  was  not  much  danger  that  the  English 
commander  would  realize  the  vital  impor- 
tance of  this  ground  after  having  neglected 
the  opportunity  of  seizing  it  for  so  many 
months,  but  to  keep  him  occupied  elsewhere 
a  severe  cannonade  was  opened  against  the 
enemy  on  March  2,  1776,  and  maintained  for 
two  successive  nights  from  the  opposite  direc- 

105 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

tion,  while  the  artillery  and  supplies  were 
moved  to  a  sheltered  spot  near  the  high 
ground.  Then  on  the  third  night  a  great  force 
of  men  was  thrown  forward  and  set  at  work 
digging  intrenchments  and  mounting  the 
heaviest  guns.  Ignorant  as  the  soldiers  had 
been  of  military  drill,  they  needed  no  instruc- 
tion in  the  use  of  the  shovel  and  the  pick,  and 
despite  the  fact  that  the  ground  was  frozen 
hard,  within  a  few  hours  Dorchester  Heights, 
lined  with  rifle  pits  and  bristling  with  cannon, 
threatened  the  English  forces  with  capture  or 
destruction. 

Then,  and  not  until  then,  did  General 
Howe  discover  what  had  happened,  but  one 
glance  was  sufficient  to  advise  him  of  his  dan- 
ger, and  he  instantly  began  preparations  for 
attacking  the  still  unfinished  fortification. 
Before  his  plans  were  completed,  however,  he 
became  convinced  that  unless  he  could  escape 
by  the  sea  he  would  be  hopelessly  trapped,  and 
in  almost  panicky  haste  he  bundled  his  troops 
aboard  the  men-of-war  in  the  harbor,  abandon- 
ing vast  quantities  of  cannon  and  supplies, 
and  Washington  took  possession  of  the  city 
on  March  17,  1776,  without  the  loss  of  a  man. 


CHAPTER   XIV 

IN   THE  FACE   OF   DISASTER 

The  Americans  did  not  remain  long  in 
Boston  after  the  British  sailed  away.  In  fact, 
before  their  ships  had  left  the  harbor  Wash- 
ington began  sending  troops  to  New  York,  for 
he  knew  that  the  English  Government  would 
be  highly  displeased  at  the  surrender  of  Bos- 
ton, and  it  was  probable  that  General  Howe 
would  attempt  to  redeem  his  reputation  by 
capturing  one  of  the  other  seaports.  There- 
fore, the  moment  he  was  convinced  that  his 
opponent  intended  to  attack  New  York,  he 
hastened  there  with  the  remainder  of  the  army 
to  head  him  off. 

Here  a  much  more  difficult  problem  than 
that  at  Boston  confronted  the  American  com- 
mander, for  he  was  now  endeavoring  to  keep 
the  enemy  from  capturing  a  city  instead  of 
trying  to  drive  them  out  of  one,  and  he  had 
neither  ships  to  defend  the  harbor  nor  any 

107 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

means  of  knowing  from  what  point  the  attack 
would  be  made.  Moreover,  many  of  the  peo- 
ple of  New  York  favored  the  King,  and  they 
did  their  best  to  injure  the  American  cause 
and  embarrass  the  General.  Nevertheless,  he 
set  resolutely  to  work  once  more  at  building 
up  an  army,  but  much  that  he  had  already  ac- 
complished had  to  be  done  again,  for  despite 
his  wishes,  Congress  continued  to  enlist  troops 
for  short  periods,  and  many  of  the  soldiers  re- 
turned to  their  homes  the  moment  their  term 
of  service  expired.  Indeed,  Congress  had 
such  extraordinary  ideas  on  military  matters 
that,  after  many  letters  of  advice  and  protest, 
Washington  went  to  Philadelphia  and  ex- 
plained what  was  needed,  at  the  same  time  ex- 
pressing his  opinion  that  the  colonies  should 
at  once  declare  themselves  independent  of 
England  and  fight  until  their  independence 
was  acknowledged. 

In  the  meantime,  General  Israel  Putnam 
took  command  at  New  York,  and  by  the  time 
Washington  returned  some  progress  had  been 
made  in  preparing  the  city  for  the  expected 
attack.  But  although  barricades  had  been 
erected  in  the  streets  and  batteries  on  the 
river  fronts,  and  all  the  lead  torn  from  the 

108 


IN    THE    FACE    OF    DISASTER 

roofs  of  the  houses  to  make  bullets,  there  were 
not  men  enough  to  guard  the  various  ap- 
proaches to  the  town,  and  it  was  practically 
defenseless  when  the  English  fleet  sailed  into 
the  bay  and  landed  an  army  on  Staten  Island. 
General  Howe  appeared  to  be  in  no  hurry, 
however,  and  Washington  took  advantage  of 
his  slowness  to  strengthen  the  defenses  on  the 
Long  Island  shore,  at  or  near  Brooklyn,  and 
otherwise  make  ready  for  battle. 

Meanwhile,  the  independence  of  the  colo- 
nies was  proclaimed  by  Congress,  and  on  July 
9,  1776,  Washington  paraded  his  troops  near 
what  is  now  the  City  Hall  and  had  the  Decla- 
ration of  Independence  read  to  them  by  the 
commanding  officers.  The  rejoicings  over 
this  event  had  scarcely  ceased,  however,  when 
some  of  the  English  ships  sailed  up  the  North 
River,  despite  the  fire  of  the  American  bat- 
teries posted  on  the  shore,  and  it  was  soon  evi- 
dent that  nothing  could  be  done  to  prevent 
the  whole  fleet  from  following  whenever  it 
pleased,  and  landing  an  army  to  attack  the 
city  in  the  rear.  But  Lord  Howe,  the  Admiral 
of  the  fleet  and  brother  of  the  English  General, 
instead  of  doing  this,  sent  a  letter  advising 
Washington  that  King  George  was  now  ready 

109 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

to  pardon  his  rebellious  subjects,  and  perhaps 
grant  some  of  the  requests  which  the  colonists 
had  made  before  the  war,  provided  they  would 
promptly  lay  down  their  arms.  This  letter 
was,  however,  merely  addressed  to  Mr.  Wash- 
ington so  the  Commander-in-Chief  declined  to 
receive  it,  and  Lord  Howe  was  given  to  under- 
stand that  it  was  now  too  late  to  propose  such 
terms  to  America. 

Both  sides  accordingly  resumed  prepara- 
tions for  fighting,  but  the  British  forces  re- 
mained inactive  for  about  five  weeks,  when 
they  suddenly  landed  on  Long  Island  at 
Gravesend  Bay,  near  Brooklyn,  where  General 
Sullivan  was  in  charge.  As  soon  as  he  heard 
of  this  movement,  Washington  placed  Gen- 
eral Putnam  in  command  and  hurried  rein- 
forcements to  him,  personally  inspecting  his 
troops  and  giving  minute  instructions  for 
guarding  the  roads.  He  then  returned  to  New 
York,  and  for  a  few  days  all  was  quiet.  On 
the  night  of  August  26,  1776,  however,  the 
British  plans  were  completed,  and  finding  one 
of  the  most  important  roads  unguarded,  Gen- 
eral Howe  approached  within  striking  dis- 
tance of  the  American  lines  without  being  dis- 
covered.   At  the  same  time  other  divisions  of 

110 


IN    THE    FACE    OF   DISASTER. 

his  army  were  moving  forward  by  other  roads, 
and  before  daylight  a  fierce  battle  was  raging. 
The  American  troops  were  completely  sur- 
prised and  defeated,  and  so  well  had  Howe 
concealed  his  movements  that  Washington 
did  not  learn  what  was  happening  until  almost 
noon,  and  before  he  arrived  on  the  scene  the 
day  was  already  lost.  Indeed,  the  shattered 
army  had  by  that  time  been  driven  behind  its 
intrenchments  at  Brooklyn  Heights,  and  was 
preparing  for  a  last  desperate  stand,  but  just 
at  the  critical  moment  when  the  British  were 
sweeping  everything  before  them,  their  ad- 
vance suddenly  halted  and  the  exhausted 
Americans  received  an  unexpected  but  sorely 
needed  breathing  spell. 

Up  to  this  moment  Washington's  general- 
ship had  not  been  severely  tested.  The  siege 
of  Boston  had  demanded  neither  quick  judg- 
ment nor  brilliancy,  and  he  had  seen  but  lit- 
tle actual  service  in  the  field.  Now,  however, 
he  was  in  a  position  where  he  had  to  think  and 
act  on  the  instant.  The  army  was  in  dire  peril, 
and  if  he  was  to  save  it,  there  was  not  a  mo- 
ment to  lose.  Before  him,  and  almost  within 
musket  shot,  lay  Howe's  victorious  forces,  and 
beyond  them  the  men-of-war  and  other  ves- 

111 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

sels  waited,  needing  only  a  signal  to  start  them 
up  the  river.  Evidently,  the  British  com- 
mander could  not  quite  make  up  his  mind 
whether  to  crush  the  Americans  by  an  imme- 
diate attack  on  their  front,  or  to  wait  until 
he  could  move  the  ships  around  to  their  rear 
and  cut  off  their  retreat.  But  while  he  hesi- 
tated, Washington  acted. 

With  the  utmost  secrecy  and  speed  he  sent 
orders  to  have  every  sort  of  rowboat  and 
barge  and  sailing  craft  which  could  be  f ound 
between  the  city  and  Spuyten  Duyvil  for- 
warded to  him  at  Brooklyn,  and  so  promptly 
was  he  obeyed  that  within  eight  hours  the 
strange  fleet  was  assembled.  Meanwhile,  he 
called  his  officers  together  and  directed  that 
as  soon  as  it  became  dark  they  should  tell  the 
troops  to  prepare  themselves  for  a  night  at- 
tack and  then  move  them  toward  the  shore, 
one  regiment  at  a  time,  taking  care  not  to  let 
them  know  where  they  were  going  until  they 
reached  the  boats,  lest  there  should  be  any 
hurry  or  confusion.  One  detachment  was  to 
be  left  guarding  the  intrenchments  nearest  the 
enemy  until  the  last  moment,  and  no  noise  of 
any  kind  was  to  be  made. 

It  was  nearly  nine  o'clock  on  August  29, 
112 


IN    THE    FACE    OF   DISASTER 

1776,  before  these  preparations  were  com- 
pleted, but  at  that  hour  the  troops  began  to 
move  on  board,  a  regiment  of  fishermen  from 
Marblehead  and  Gloucester  furnishing  the 
crews.  At  times  it  seemed  as  though  the 
British  must  hear  the  creaking  artillery 
wheels  and  the  tramping  of  the  men,  but  a 
heavy  fog  concealed  their  movements,  and 
boat  after  boat  pushed  off  without  mishap. 
Suddenly  the  roar  of  a  heavy  cannon  shook 
the  earth  and  for  a  moment  Washington  be- 
lieved that  his  maneuver  had  been  discovered, 
and  that  the  enemy  were  about  to  attack.  But 
word  soon  came  that  the  discharge  had  been 
caused  by  spiking  a  gun  which  could  not  be 
moved,  and  the  work  of  departure  was  in- 
stantly resumed.  Then  to  the  general's  utter 
dismay  the  detachment  which  had  been  left  to 
guard  the  farthest  breastworks  and  deceive 
the  enemy,  mistook  its  orders  and  appeared 
at  the  shore  hours  before  its  time.  The  re- 
treat now  threatened  to  end  in  disaster,  for  it 
was  scarcely  possible  that  the  British  sentries 
had  not  observed  the  withdrawal  of  the  rear 
guard,  and  an  attack  at  this  crisis  meant  noth- 
ing less  than  the  destruction  of  the  entire 
force.    Nevertheless,  Washington  did  not  lose 

113 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

his  head,  but  quietly  ordered  the  detachment 
back  to  its  intrenchments,  and  it  reached  them 
without  its  movement  being  discovered. 

At  first  an  adverse  wind  impeded  the  re- 
treat, and  then  as  the  night  wore  on  and  the 
breeze  died  down  the  heavy  tide  began  to 
sweep  the  boats  in  the  wrong  direction,  and 
once  more  the  expedition  was  in  peril.  Be- 
fore morning  dawned,  however,  the  wind 
freshened  in  the  right  direction,  and  finally 
the  last  barge  was  pushed  from  the  shore,  and 
the  last  man  to  step  aboard  it  was  Washing- 
ton. Thus  the  whole  American  army  slipped 
slowly  and  silently  away  under  cover  of  the 
friendly  fog,  carrying  all  its  ammunition  and 
equipment,  and  shortly  after  sunrise  General 
Howe  discovered  that  his  prey  had  escaped 
him,  and  that  the  American  commander  had 
performed  the  apparently  impossible  feat  of 
safely  landing  nine  thousand  troops  on  the  op- 
posite shore  without  the  loss  of  a  man  or  a 
gun. 


CHAPTER   XV 

FIGHTING  FOR  POSITION 

With  the  river  between  it  and  the  enemy, 
the  American  army  was,  for  the  time  being,  in 
safety,  and  General  Howe  did  not  immedi- 
ately pursue,  for  both  he  and  his  brother,  the 
Admiral,  thought  that  the  Americans  might 
now  be  more  inclined  to  end  the  war  and  they 
knew  that  England  was  far  more  anxious*  at 
that  time,  to  reconcile  the  Americans  than  to 
defeat  them.  Lord  Howe,  therefore,  sent  the 
American  General  Sullivan,  who  had  been 
taken  prisoner  at  the  battle  of  Long  Island,  to 
inform  Congress  that  the  English  Government 
was  ready  to  talk  peace,  and  John  Adams, 
Benjamin  Franklin,  and  Edward  Rutledge 
were  appointed  by  Congress  to  meet  his  lord- 
ship on  Staten  Island  and  hear  what  he  had 
to  say.  It  soon  appeared,  however,  that  noth- 
ing could  be  done  unless  the  Americans  were 
willing  to  submit  again  to  the  rule  of  England, 
and  accordingly  no  agreement  was  reached. 

115 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

In  the  meantime,  Washington  had  estab- 
lished his  headquarters  on  Harlem  Heights, 
leaving  five  thousand  troops  under  General 
Putnam  in  the  lower  part  of  the  town  to  pa- 
trol the  streets  and  maintain  order.  He  knew 
that  if  he  remained  on  Manhattan  Island  and 
the  enemy  succeeded  in  getting  behind  him 
his  army  would  be  caught  in  a  trap  from 
which  there  would  be  little  or  no  chance  of 
escape.  He,  therefore,  determined  to  aban- 
don New  York  whenever  Howe  made  a  serious 
attack  against  the  city,  but  he  intended  to  de- 
lay his  landing  as  long  as  possible  and  fall 
back  slowly  before  the  British  advance.  With 
this  idea  he  stationed  part  of  his  forces  at 
various  points  along  the  shore  of  the  East 
River,  with  strict  orders  to  hold  the  enemy 
in  check,  so  that  Putnam  would  have  time  to 
collect  his  men  and  withdraw  to  Harlem 
Heights,  if  it  became  necessary  to  evacuate 
the  town.  To  his  utter  disgust,  however,  the 
troops  which  had  been  left  to  guard  the  in- 
trenchments,  at  what  is  now  known  as  East 
Thirty-fourth  Street,  became  panic-stricken 
when  Howe  began  to  cannonade  them  from 
the  Brooklyn  shore  on  September  15,  1776, 
and  gave  way  almost  before  the  first  boat- 

116 


FIGHTING   FOR   POSITION 

load  of  the  enemy  crossed  the  river.  The  mo- 
ment he  caught  the  sound  of  firing,  Washing- 
ton mounted  his  horse,  and  dashing  to  the 
spot,  endeavored  to  drive  the  fugitives  back 
to  their  posts,  but  though  he  struck  at  them 
with  the  flat  of  his  sword  and  threatened  to 
shoot  them  down,  they  fled  past  him,  and  he 
himself  barely  escaped  capture  as  the  British 
advance  guard  swarmed  over  the  abandoned 
intrenchments  and  poured  up  Thirty-fourth 
Street  unopposed.  Indeed,  if  Howe  had 
pushed  resolutely  forward,  throwing  a  strong 
force  across  the  island  along  the  line  of  Thirty- 
fourth  Street  from  shore  to  shore,  he  would 
have  trapped  Putnam's  entire  division.  But 
the  day  was  suffocatingly  hot  and  an  invita- 
tion to  luncheon  tempted  him  to  halt  at  Mrs. 
Murray's  hospitable  mansion,  near  what  is 
now  called  Murray  Hill,  and  here  his  hostess 
made  herself  so  very  agreeable  that  he  and  his 
staff  tarried  longer  than  they  intended,  and 
while  they  toasted  their  entertainer,  Putnam's 
forces,  piloted  by  Aaron  Burr,  slipped  swiftly 
along  the  opposite  side  of  the  town  and  ar- 
rived, covered  with  dust  and  perspiration,  and 
gasping  for  breath,  but  safe  and  sound,  under 
the  shelter  of  Harlem  Heights. 

117 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

The  main  body  of  the  American  army  at 
this  point  was  strongly  intrenched  in  a  triple 
line,  stretching  from  the  Hudson  River  on  one 
side  to  Long  Island  Sound  on  the  other,  and 
Washington  determined  to  make  a  stand  there 
if  Howe  continued  the  pursuit.  He,  therefore, 
spent  the  night  of  September  15th  in  inspect- 
ing and  strengthening  his  defenses,  and  it  was 
then  that  he  noticed  a  young  artillery  officer 
who  was  posting  his  guns  with  such  rare  good 
judgment  that  he  made  some  inquiries  con- 
cerning him.  He  was  a  boy  about  nineteen 
years  of  age,  he  was  informed,  who  had  re- 
cently been  a  student  at  King's  (now  Colum- 
bia) College,  but  had  been  given  a  captain's 
commission  in  the  artillery,  where  he  had  al- 
ready done  good  service.  His  name  was  Alex- 
ander Hamilton.  It  was  probably  then  that 
the  General  determined  to  make  him  a  mem- 
ber of  his  staff,  to  which  position  he  was  ap- 
pointed four  months  later,  and  the  acquaint- 
ance thus  begun  led  to  a  lifelong  friendship. 

Howe  moved  swiftly  once  he  was  in  mo- 
tion, and  the  day  after  he  landed  in  New  York 
he  hurled  himself  at  the  American  intrench- 
ments  with  the  idea  of  breaking  through  them 
and  cutting  off  Washington  from  further  re- 

118 


FIGHTING   FOR   POSITION 

treat.  So  certain  was  lie  that  this  could  be 
done  that  his  buglers  are  said  to  have  ad- 
vanced to  the  attack  blowing  a  call  which 
huntsmen  use  when  a  fox  has  "  gone  to 
ground,"  and  is  as  good  as  caught,  and  which 
a  sportsman  like  Washington  would  be  sure 
to  understand.  Undoubtedly,  he  did  under- 
stand it,  but  it  also  suggested  overconfidence 
on  the  part  of  his  adversary,  and  of  this  he 
instantly  took  advantage,  with  the  result  that 
when  the  clash  came  it  was  the  English  and 
not  the  American  line  that  broke.  Then  fol- 
lowed a  brief  but  fierce  struggle  near  what  is 
now  the  site  of  Grant's  Tomb,  and  nineteen 
bullet  holes  in  one  fence  rail  behind  which  the 
British  took  shelter  showed  that  the  American 
marksmen  on  Harlem  Heights  were  not  to  be 
despised,  and  the  day  closed  without  any  per- 
ceptible impression  on  their  lines.  This  ap- 
parently convinced  the  English  commander 
that  he  could  not  pierce  Washington's  center, 
and  he  accordingly  determined  to  try  his  ends. 
These  could  be  approached  only  by  water,  but 
Howe  had  the  necessary  ships,  and  the  Ameri- 
can commander  spent  many  anxious  weeks 
while  his  opponent,  who  had  suddenly  become 
very    cautious,    prepared    the    next    move. 

119 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

Meanwhile,  Washington  attempted  to  discover 
his  adversary's  purpose  by  sending  Captain 
Nathan  Hale  to  Long  Island,  but  the  gallant 
young  schoolmaster,  caught  in  returning  with 
the  necessary  information,  was  hanged  as  a 
spy,  and  the  enemy's  plans  remained  con- 
cealed. 

Finally,  after  a  month's  delay,  the  British 
were  detected  stealing  up  the  Sound  in  an  at- 
tempt to  circle  Washington's  left  end,  and  to 
meet  this  move  he  fell  back,  delaying  the 
enemy  by  throwing  forward  a  body  of  sharp- 
shooters whose  deadly  fire  had  precisely  the 
effect  which  he  hoped  to  produce,  and  gave 
him  plenty  of  time  to  post  his  troops  to  ad- 
vantage. Therefore,  when  Howe  thought 
that  he  had  swung  out  far  enough  and  turned 
to  skirt  the  end,  he  found  Washington  planted 
squarely  across  his  path  at  White  Plains,  and 
it  took  him  so  long  and  cost  him  so  dear  to 
carry  the  first  line  of  defense  on  what  was 
known  as  Chatterton's  Hill  that  he  concluded 
to  call  a  halt  before  making  another  attempt. 
This  engagement,  called  the  battle  of  White 
Plains,  occurred  on  October  27th,  fully  six 
weeks  after  Howe  had  landed  in  New  York, 
and  the  appearance  of  Washington's  defenses 

120 


FIGHTING   FOR   POSITION 

on  the  morning  after  Chatterton's  Hill  gave 
him  further  pause.  It  was  well  for  the  Amer- 
icans, however,  that  military  field  glasses  were 
not  as  powerful  then  as  they  have  since  been 
made,  for  the  intrenchments  which  caused 
General  Howe  to  hesitate  consisted  of  nothing 
but  cornstalks  pulled  up  with  the  sod  clinging 
to  their  roots  and  piled  into  the  semblance  of 
a  formidable  breastwork.  But  weak  as  they 
were,  they  looked  dangerous  from  a  distance, 
and  Howe,  who  had  acquired  an  immense  re- 
spect for  improvised  defenses  after  the  expe- 
rience at  Bunker  Hill,  decided  not  to  risk  a 
frontal  attack.  At  the  first  favorable  oppor- 
tunity, however,  Washington  abandoned  his 
flimsy  shelter  and  dropped  back  about  five 
miles  to  North  Castle,  where  he  secured  him- 
self in  a  really  strong  position.  Here  for  a 
few  days  the  English  commander  confronted 
him  but  made  no  attack,  and  the  Americans, 
regaining  confidence,  began  to  believe  that 
their  line  was  impregnable.  Then  a  strange 
sound  of  rumbling  wheels  and  tramping  feet 
from  the  direction  of  the  British  camp  dis- 
turbed this  pleasant  dream  and  warned  them 
that  something  unexpected  was  happening. 
Something  unexpected  was  happening. 
121 


ON   THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

Howe  was  rapidly  heading  for  Dobb's  Ferry, 
away  over  on  the  other  side  of  the  line  on  the 
Hudson  River.  His  attempt  to  skirt  the 
American  left  end  had  failed  and  he  was  now 
to  try  the  right. 


CHAPTER   XVI 

A  RACE  FOR  LIFE 

The  right  end  was  Fort  Washington  on  the 
Hudson  near  Spuyten  Duyvil,  and  by  drop- 
ping down  to  Dobb's  Ferry,  Howe  virtually 
boxed  it  off  from  the  rest  of  the  line.  By  all 
the  rules  of  war  it  should  have  been  aban- 
doned when  Washington  retreated  to  White 
Plains,  but  Congress  had  all  but  forbidden 
this,  and  the  Commander-in-Chief  had  ordered 
General  Greene  to  hold  fast  or  retreat  as  he 
thought  best.  Unfortunately,  Greene  believed 
that  the  place  was  strong  enough  to  with- 
stand any  attack,  and  he  was  ignorant  of 
the  fact  that  there  was  a  traitor  in  the  fort 
who  had  furnished  Howe  with  enough  infor- 
mation to  insure  its  capture.  This  was  un- 
doubtedly the  explanation  of  the  English  Gen- 
eral's sudden  change  of  plan,  but  under  any 
circumstances  it  was  a  brilliant  move,  for  it 
placed  him  in  a  position  where  he  could  either 

123 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

proceed  up  the  river  against  Albany,  or  cross 
it  and  attack  Philadelphia,  or  besiege  Fort 
Washington,  and  the  Americans  were  thus 
forced  to  divide  their  small  army  to  be  ready 
for  any  of  these  emergencies.  For  the  endan- 
gered fortress,  Washington  could  do  little  or 
nothing,  but  he  posted  a  few  thousand  men 
under  General  Heath  at  Peekskill  to  guard 
the  Highlands  of  the  Hudson,  and  intrusted 
Lee  with  a  strong  force  to  hold  the  left  end 
at  North  Castle  until  further  orders,  while  he 
himself  crossed  the  river  with  a  force  of  about 
five  thousand,  which  he  posted  at  Hackensack 
to  check  any  movement  against  Philadelphia 
through  New  Jersey. 

These  preparations  had  scarcely  been 
made  before  Howe  struck  at  Fort  Washing- 
ton and,  aided  by  the  private  information  he 
had  received,  soon  had  the  place  at  his  mercy. 
From  the  lofty  Palisades  on  the  other  side  of 
the  river,  Washington  had  a  full  view  of  the 
movements  of  the  British  troops  and  realiz- 
ing what  was  about  to  happen,  he  sent  a  mes- 
sage to  the  commander,  urging  him  to  hold  on 
until  night,  when  some  means  of  escape  would 
be  devised.  The  message  arrived  too  late,  how- 
ever, and  on  November  16,  1776,  the  entire 

124 


A   RACE    FOR    LIFE 

garrison  of  nearly  three  thousand  men,  with 
much  of  the  best  arms  and  cannon  which  the 
American  army  possessed,  fell  into  the  hands 
of  the  enemy.  The  moment  he  saw  the  British 
flag  floating  above  the  fortress,  "Washington 
realized  that  there  was  not  a  moment  to  lose 
if  the  rest  of  the  army  was  to  be  saved.  With- 
out an  instant's  hesitation  he  ordered  the 
evacuation  of  Fort  Lee  on  the  opposite  side  of 
the  Hudson,  sent  an  express  to  General  Lee 
instructing  him  to  cross  the  river  at  once  and 
join  him  in  New  Jersey  and,  gathering  up  the 
few  regiments  under  his  immediate  command, 
began  a  retreat,  which  is  almost  without  a  par- 
allel in  the  history  of  warfare. 

Scarcely  had  the  garrison  at  Fort  Lee  re- 
ceived orders  to  abandon  its  post,  when  Lord 
Cornwallis,  at  the  head  of  six  thousand  troops, 
scaled  the  Palisades  and  forced  the  rear  guard 
to  leave  almost  all  their  equipment  and  sup- 
plies in  order  to  avoid  capture.  Even  then  it 
was  not  at  all  certain  that  they  would  escape, 
for  the  vigorous  English  General  gave  them 
no  chance  to  rest,  and  by  the  time  they  over- 
took the  balance  of  the  little  army,  Cornwallis 
was  close  upon  their  heels. 

Never  did  a  commander  face  a  more  hope- 
125 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

less  situation  than  that  which  now  confronted 
Washington.  He  was  in  an  open,  and  almost 
flat  country,  affording  no  shelter  for  an  in- 
ferior force  to  meet  a  superior  one  on  any- 
thing like  even  terms,  and  rendering  conceal- 
ment practically  impossible.  The  weather 
was  cruelly  cold,  the  ground  frozen,  the  troops 
poorly  armed,  and  clothed  in  whatever  they 
happened  to  be  wearing  at  the  moment  they 
started  on  their  flight,  and  every  mile  they 
traveled,  more  and  more  men  deserted  the 
ranks.  Indeed,  the  whole  force  at  his  disposal 
was  soon  reduced  to  about  three  thousand,  and 
there  was  very  little  hope  that  even  this  hand- 
ful would  continue  to  follow  him,  for  the  de- 
feats and  constant  retreating  had  discouraged 
the  whole  country,  and  thousands  of  half- 
hearted patriots  hurried  to  profess  their  loy- 
alty to  King  George  when  Cornwallis  hauled 
his  cannon  up  the  Palisades.  Indeed,  the 
whole  Revolution  was  crumbling  to  pieces  as 
Washington  fled  across  the  frozen  flat  lands 
of  New  Jersey. 

Yet  in  the  face  of  this  desperate  situation 
the  American  Commander-in-Chief  did  not  de- 
spair or  even  falter.  Now  he  slipped  behind 
the  Hackensack  River,  just  beyond  his  keen 

126 


A   RACE    FOR   LIFE 

pursuers'  grasp — now  lie  dashed  across  the 
Passaic,  gaining  a  momentary  breathing  spell 
as  the  enemy  hesitated  on  the  farther  shore — 
now  he  divided  his  forces  to  throw  the  hunters 
off  his  trail,  and  dodged  behind  the  Raritan 
River,  destroying  its  bridges  in  the  nick  of 
time,  while  Hamilton's  well-directed  cannon 
held  the  pursuit  in  check — now  he  staggered 
on  toward  Princeton,  shivering  under  the  icy 
winter  blasts,  always  sending  more  and  more 
urgent  orders  to  Lee  to  hasten  his  arrival,  and 
never  suspecting  that  his  friend  was  playing 
false. 

But  Lee  could  see  Washington's  plight  as 
plainly  as  though  he  were  by  his  side,  and  he 
had  no  desire  to  share  it.  On  the  contrary, 
he  had  decided  that  his  commander's  loss 
would  be  his  gain,  and  that  out  of  the  wreck  of 
(Washington's  fortunes  he,  being  then  second 
in  command,  would  rise  to  the  highest  grade. 
Therefore,  he  pretended  to  misunderstand  his 
orders,  and  answered  the  call  for  help  with  ex- 
cuses instead  of  troops. 

Meanwhile,  the  desperate  flight  continued 
and  Washington,  though  hard  pressed,  was 
not  yet  at  the  end  of  his  resources.  With  a 
twist  he  was  over  the  Millstone  River  and  an- 

127 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

other  turn  brought  him  within  a  short  march 
of  the  Delaware.  Up  to  this  point  the  various 
streams,  behind  whose  friendly  interference  he 
had  darted  and  squirmed,  had  merely  afforded 
him  temporary  protection,  but  here  was  a 
broad  water-way  which  might  effectually 
shield  him  for  some  time.  Without  the  loss  of 
a  moment,  he  hurried  forward  an  advance 
guard  with  orders  to  secure  every  boat  along 
the  Delaware  for  a  distance  of  seventy  miles, 
and  as  the  men  flew  to  perform  their  errand, 
the  fate  of  the  American  Revolution  hung  in 
the  balance.  If  the  boats  could  be  procured 
the  army  was  safe ;  if  not,  the  end  was  at  hand. 
But  the  boats  were  found,  and  sinking  those 
they  could  not  use,  the  exhausted  soldiers 
clambered  on  board  the  others  and  pushed 
from  the  shore.  No  army  ever  had  a  more 
hairbreadth  escape,  for  the  British  advance 
guard  reached  the  river  while  the  American 
rear  guard  was  still  in  the  act  of  crossing,  aud 
a  few  long-range  guns  would  have  sunk  the 
entire  flotilla  long  before  the  boats  could  have 
been  beached  in  safety  on  the  Pennsylvania 
shore. 

To  Cornwallis  the  situation  was  exasper- 
ating in  the  extreme,  and  he  made  a  hurried 

128 


A   RACE    FOR   LIFE 

search  for  any  sort  of  craft  capable  of  ferry- 
ing his  army,  but  without  the  least  success. 
Scarcely  a  rowboat  had  been  left  afloat,  and 
there  was  nothing  to  be  done  but  build  barges 
or  a  pontoon  bridge,  or  wait  until  the  river 
froze.  The  latter  seemed  the  wisest  course, 
for  the  ice  was  rapidly  forming  and  all  the 
prospects  seemed  to  indicate  a  period  of  ex- 
traordinary cold. 

Therefore,  being  joined  by  General  Howe 
and  acting  under  his  orders,  his  Lordship 
handed  over  his  command  to  one  of  his  sub- 
ordinates with  instructions  to  cross  the  river 
and  finish  the  campaign  at  the  earliest  possible 
moment,  while  he  himself  returned  to  New 
York,  where  he  expected  to  set  sail  for  Eng- 
land within  a  few  weeks,  carrying  the  news 
that  the  rebellion  was  at  an  end. 


CHAPTER   XVII 

WITH   HIS  BACK  TO  THE  WALL 

Lord  Coknwallis  was  not  alone  in  his 
opinion  that  the  struggle  for  independence  in 
America  had  practically  ceased.  General 
Howe  felt  so  thoroughly  convinced  of  it  that 
he  was  well  content  to  leave  a  comparatively 
small  force  to  finish  up  the  work  on  the  Dela- 
ware, while  he  returned  with  the  balance  of 
his  army  to  comfortable  winter  quarters  in 
New  York.  The  British  Government  gave 
signal  proof  of  its  satisfaction,  for  it  re- 
warded the  successful  commander  by  invest- 
ing him  with  the  order  of  Knight  Commander 
of  the  Bath  and  Sir  William  was  freely  credit- 
ed with  having  stamped  out  the  rebellion.  In- 
deed, many  Americans  shared  this  view,  and 
when  Congress  abandoned  Philadelphia  and 
sought  refuge  in  Baltimore,  even  the  most  de- 
voted patriots  began  to  fear  that  the  fight  could 
not  be  maintained  much  longer.    Certainly  the 

130 


WITH  HIS  BACK  TO  THE  WALL 

soldiers  believed  that  the  end  had  come,  for 
they  were  rapidly  dispersing  to  their  homes 
throughout  the  country,  and  the  little  force 
which  still  held  together  on  the  Delaware  had 
been  hunted  almost  to  death,  and  cold  and 
hunger  threatened  to  make  them  an  easy  prey 
for  the  enemy  who  camped  upon  their  blood- 
stained trail.  Lee,  it  is  true,  had  at  last  set 
his  troops  in  motion,  but  he  believed  that  the 
American  cause  was  on  the  brink  of  ruin,  and 
had  no  intention  of  involving  himself  in  the 
disaster.  Altogether  the  situation  was  about 
as  desperate  as  could  well  be  imagined,  and 
when  the  ice  began  to  form  in  the  Delaware, 
the  wreck  of  the  Revolution  seemed  almost 
certain. 

There  was  one  American,  however,  who 
neither  despaired  nor  permitted  others  to  de- 
spair. Probably  no  one  understood  the  peril 
of  the  moment  better  than  Washington,  but 
though  he  was  prepared  for  the  worst,  he  had 
resolved  to  resist  to  the  last  and  his  plans  were 
all  made  to  that  end.  If  the  river  froze,  and 
the  enemy  crossed,  he  intended  to  split  his 
army  into  bands  and  taking  them  to  the  moun- 
tains, wait  for  an  opportunity  to  gather  them 
together  again.    But  no  idea  of  surrender  ever 

131 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

entered  his  mind.  Meanwhile,  he  contin- 
ued to  report  regularly  to  Congress,  inform- 
ing it  of  the  army's  needs  and  submitting 
plans  for  its  betterment;  gave  orders  to  the 
various  generals  under  his  command;  con- 
ducted a  correspondence  with  Sir  William 
Howe  concerning  an  exchange  of  prisoners, 
and  generally  attended  to  all  his  duties  with  as 
much  care  and  calmness  as  he  had  displayed  at 
any  time  during  the  war.  Even  when  the  news 
reached  him  that  General  Lee  had  been  caught 
sleeping  in  a  farmhouse  at  some  distance 
from  his  troops,  and  been  gobbled  up  by  a 
squad  of  British  cavalry,  and  the  increasing 
cold  indicated  that  the  foe  would  soon  be  able 
to  cross  the  ice,  he  did  not  lose  his  courage. 
On  the  contrary,  at  this  critical  moment  he  ac- 
tually began  planning  to  cross  the  river  and 
attack  the  enemy. 

Rash  as  such  an  enterprise  seemed,  it  was 
by  no  means  hopeless,  for  the  British  com- 
manders, believing  that  the  American  army 
was  at  their  mercy,  had  taken  no  precautions 
to  protect  their  own  forces,  and  their  nearest 
troops,  scattered  up  and  down  the  river,  were 
separated  from  each  other  by  dangerously 
wide  intervals.    Of  this  fact  Washington  was 

132 


WITH  HIS  BACK  TO  THE  WALL 

soon  made  aware,  for  he  had  a  number  of  spies 
in  the  guise  of  countrymen  who  rode  in  and 
out  of  the  enemy's  camp,  ostensibly  selling  to- 
bacco and  farm  products,  but  really  gathering 
information  for  the  benefit  of  their  chief.  As 
soon  as  they  advised  him,  therefore,  of  the 
careless  arrangement  of  the  opposing  forces 
he  instantly  began  preparations  for  catching 
them  off  their  guard. 

By  this  time  General  Sullivan,  who  suc- 
ceeded to  Lee's  command  after  the  latter 's 
capture,  had  brought  his  troops  safely  into 
camp,  marching  almost  as  many  miles  in  a  day 
as  Lee  had  covered  in  a  week,  and  this  re- 
enforcement  was  of  the  utmost  importance  to 
Washington.  He  knew  that  the  whole  force 
under  his  command  was  still  much  smaller 
than  that  of  the  enemy,  but  if  he  could  keep 
their  various  commands  from  going  to  each 
other's  assistance  he  might  attack  the  most 
exposed  posts  in  overwhelming  numbers  and 
either  capture  or  destroy  them  before  they 
could  be  reenforced.  To  insure  the  success 
of  this  scheme,  however,  it  was  necessary  that 
the  plans  should  be  kept  absolutely  secret, 
and  on  Christmas  eve  he  called  his  chief  of- 
ficers together  in  a  house  from  which  every- 

133 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

one  else  was  excluded,  and  issued  his  orders 
behind  closed  and  guarded  doors.  Two  of  the 
commanders  were  instructed  to  cross  the  river 
on  Christmas  night  at  different  points  and  at- 
tack the  enemy  at  daylight  the  next  morning, 
while  he  himself  crossed  at  Trenton  and 
moved  against  the  Hessians  stationed  at  that 
place.  To  make  sure  that  the  three  expedi- 
tions should  move  at  the  same  moment,  all  the 
officers  set  their  watches  by  Washington's  and 
it  was  agreed  that  the  men  should  not  be  told 
where  they  were  going  or  what  they  were  ex- 
pected to  do  until  it  was  absolutely  necessary. 
These  preparations  completed,  the  officers 
quietly  returned  to  their  quarters  and  at  two 
o'clock  the  next  afternoon  Washington's  regi- 
ments were  assembled,  each  man  carrying  a 
rifle,  a  blanket,  three  days'  provisions,  and 
forty  rounds  of  ammunition;  the  password 
was  announced  as  "  Victory  or  death  ";  the 
officers  were  instructed  to  pin  bits  of  white 
paper  to  their  hats  so  their  men  might  recog- 
nize them  in  the  dark,  and  without  a  word  of 
explanation  the  little  army  marched  rapidly 
and  silently  away. 


CHAPTER   XVIII 

THE   CHKISTMAS   PARTY 

It  was  bitterly  cold  when  the  expedition 
started,  and  by  the  time  the  troops  arrived  at 
McKonkey's  or  "  Eight  Mile  "  Ferry  where 
Washington  had  assembled  his  boats,  the  Dela- 
ware was  almost  frozen  over.  The  Marble- 
head  fishermen  who  had  done  such  good  service 
in  the  retreat  from  Long  Island  were  again  at 
the  oars,  however,  and  boat  after  boat  was 
forced  through  the  floating  ice  and  beached  on 
the  opposite  shore  in  safety.  Nevertheless, 
the  hours  slipped  quickly  by  as  the  oarsmen 
struggled  against  wind  and  current,  and  by 
eleven  at  night  they  had  not  accomplished  half 
their  task.  Then,  to  add  to  the  misery  of  the 
shivering  troops,  a  wild  storm  of  sleet  and  hail 
began,  drenching  the  men  to  the  skin  and  ren- 
dering the  passage  of  the  river  doubly  difficult. 
Under  such  circumstances  it  was  four  in  the 
morning  before  the  last  boat  load  was  landed 

135 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

on  the  Jersey  shore,  and  dawn  was  the  time 
appointed  for  the  three  movements  against  the 
British  lines.  Neither  of  the  other  expedi- 
tions had  even  succeeded  in  crossing  the  river, 
but  despite  this  bad  news  Washington  re- 
mained calm  and  undiscouraged.  Not  a  man 
or  a  gun  had  thus  far  been  lost  in  the  perilous 
journey,  and  Trenton  was  only  eight  miles 
away.  If  it  was  too  late  for  a  night  attack, 
or  a  surprise,  there  was  still  time  to  strike 
the  Hessians  a  heavy  blow  before  their  friends 
could  come  to  their  aid,  and  the  moment  the 
last  man  was  landed,  Washington  gave  the 
order  to  march. 

Exhausted  as  they  were  after  nine  hours' 
exposure  to  the  bitter  weather,  the  troops  re- 
sponded gamely  and,  wrapping  their  guns  in 
their  blankets  to  protect  them  from  the  sleet, 
they  pushed  resolutely  forward  in  the  teeth 
of  the  pitiless  storm.  After  covering  a  few 
miles,  however,  a  halt  for  breakfast  was  or- 
dered, but  many  of  the  men,  too  tired  to  eat, 
sank  down  in  the  freezing  mud,  and  when  the 
march  was  resumed  their  comrades  had  great 
difficulty  in  rousing  them  from  sleep.  Wash- 
ington did  not  dismount  during  this  brief  rest, 
nor  did  he  consult  with  his  staff.    All  his  plans 

136 


THE    CHRISTMAS    PARTY 

were  completed  and  the  only  word  lie  uttered 
was  one  of  encouragement  to  the  men  as  they 
resumed  their  march. 

By  this  time  the  dawn  was  already  streak- 
ing the  sky  and  the  light  showed  the  little 
army  stumbling  along  in  two  divisions,  one 
following  the  river  and  the  other  the  upper 
road  running  parallel  to  it;  the  men  march- 
ing with  heads  bent  against  the  driving  sleet, 
the  steaming  horses  straining  at  the  cannon 
traces  and  floundering  in  the  treacherous  mud 
at  every  step,  the  officers  carrying  muskets 
like  their  men  and  watching  to  see  that  no 
rifle  or  ammunition  was  exposed  to  the  wet. 
Save  for  the  splashing  and  trampling,  not  a 
sound  came  from  the  shadowy  columns  which 
slipped  along  in  the  slush  with  grim  determi- 
nation, and  among  those  who  silently  plodded 
forward  with  bits  of  white  paper  on  their  hats 
were  Henry  Knox  and  Alexander  Hamilton, 
John  Sullivan  and  Lord  Stirling,  Nathanael 
Greene,  John  Stark,  the  veteran  Indian  fight- 
er ;  William  Washington,  a  cousin  of  the  Gen- 
eral, and  young  Lieutenant  James  Monroe, 
the  future  President  of  the  United  States. 

Meanwhile,  the  unsuspecting  Hessians 
were  enjoying  a  sound  slumber  in  their  bar- 

137 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

racks,  after  a  gay  Christmas  celebration  which 
had  lasted  far  into  the  night.  Colonel  Rail, 
their  commander,  devoted  himself  exclusively 
to  the  festivities,  declining  even  to  see  an  ex- 
cited loyalist  who  demanded  a  private  inter- 
view with  him  on  a  matter  of  much  impor- 
tance, and  when  the  man  informed  him,  in 
writing,  that  Washington's  troops  were  cross- 
ing the  Delaware,  he  slipped  the  note,  un- 
opened, into  his  pocket  and  never  thought  of 
it  again.  With  this  example,  therefore,  it  is 
not  surprising  that  discipline  was  everywhere 
relaxed;  that  the  outposts  were  not  properly 
manned,  and  that  no  vision  of  the  mud- 
splashed  columns  that  were  converging  upon 
them  troubled  the  dreams  of  the  drowsy  gar- 
rison. 

About  eight  o'clock  in  the  morning,  how- 
ever, the  whole  town  was  suddenly  awakened 
by  the  sound  of  firing,  and  before  the  startled 
soldiers  were  fairly  out  of  their  beds,  the  sen- 
tries and  outposts  came  flying  into  the  town 
hotly  pursued  by  the  vanguard  of  the  Ameri- 
can army.  Even  then,  neither  Colonel  Rail 
nor  his  officers  fully  realized  what  had  hap- 
pened, for  they  ordered  a  small  company  of 
men  to  drive  back  the  advancing  Americans 

138 


THE    CHRISTMAS    PARTY 

and  proceeded  to  form  their  regiments  into 
regular  line  of  battle.  But  Washington  gave 
the  Hessians  no  chance  to  complete  their  man- 
euvers. His  opportunity  had  come  and  all 
his  plans  were  perfected.  With  incredible 
speed,  Knox  and  Hamilton  wheeled  their  guns 
into  position,  uncovered  them  and  began  firing 
with  fatal  precision  into  the  half-formed 
ranks,  while  a  crowd  of  American  sharp- 
shooters stormed  the  houses  and  picked  off 
the  officers  from  behind  windows  and  doors 
with  unerring  accuracy.  Neither  discipline 
nor  personal  bravery  availed  at  such  a  crisis, 
and  when  Colonel  Rail  fell,  mortally  wounded, 
with  the  note  of  warning  still  unopened  in  his 
pocket,  the  day  was  practically  lost.  A  few 
wild  volleys  were  fired  at  the  encircling  hosts 
and  Washington's  cousin  William  and  Lieu- 
tenant James  Monroe  were  wounded,  but  most 
of  the  bullets  went  wide  of  their  marks,  while 
the  American  riflemen,  seldom  missing  their 
aim,  created  havoc  in  the  huddled  ranks  of 
their  opponents.  Finally  Rail's  own  regiment 
broke  and  fled,  and  from  that  moment  confu- 
sion reigned  supreme.  In  the  midst  of  shots, 
shouts,  and  all  the  uproar  of  blind  panic,  with 
men  flying  hither  and  thither  in  vain  efforts 

139 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

to  find  safety,  one  company  dashed  in  frantic 
flight  across  the  bridge  over  the  neighboring 
Assanpink  Creek  and  made  their  escape,  but 
before  others  could  follow  their  example, 
Washington  rushed  a  body  of  troops  into  posi- 
tion -  bloc"  ig  the  road  and  completely  sur- 
rounding the  town.  Then,  as  his  whole  forces 
moved  forward,  the  bewildered  Hessians, 
caught  as  in  a  net,  threw  their  guns  on  the 
ground,  their  officers  raised  their  hats  on  their 
swords  in  token  of  surrender,  and  the  battle 
of  Trenton  ended. 

Washington  lost  no  time  in  idle  rejoicing, 
but  gathering  together  the  captured  cannon 
and  horses,  and  almost  a  thousand  prisoners, 
he  hastened  over  the  Delaware  again  and  with- 
in twenty-four  hours  was  once  more  safely  in 
his  camp. 


CHAPTER   XIX 

CORNERED  BUT  NOT  CAUGHT 

The  news  of  the  victory  at  Trenton  spread 
through  the  country  with  well-nigh  incredible 
speed.  Horsemen  dashed  through  the  towns 
and  villages  shouting  the  tidings,  but  even  be- 
fore they  reached  Baltimore,  where  Congress 
was  assembled,  the  members  had  voted  that 
Washington  be  given  almost  unlimited  pow- 
ers to  increase  the  army  and  conduct  the  war 
as  he  thought  best.  In  fact,  Congress  prac- 
tically made  him  a  dictator  for  six  months, 
and  had  he  been  a  vain,  instead  of  a  modest 
man,  he  might  easily  have  had  his  head  turned 
by  the  honors  which  were  thrust  upon  him. 
But  at  this  crisis  he  gave  the  first  proofs  of  his 
real  greatness.  "  Instead  of  thinking  myself 
freed  from  all  civil  obligations  by  this  mark 
of  confidence,"  he  wrote,  "  I  shall  constantly 
bear  in  mind  that  as  the  sword  was  the  last 
resort  for  the  preservation  of  our  liberties,  so 

141 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

it  ought  to  be  the  first  thing  laid  aside  when 
those  liberties  are  firmly  established." 

With  these  quiet  words  he  turned  his  at- 
tention to  his  forces  on  the  Delaware,  and  it 
was  well  that  he  wasted  no  time  in  self-glori- 
fication, for  the  British  commanders  were 
already  preparing  to  retrieve  the  disaster 
to  the  Hessians  by  wiping  out  the  entire 
American  army.  Indeed,  the  moment  the 
dispatch  riders  arrived  in  New  York  with  the 
news  from  Trenton,  Lord  Cornwallis  hastily 
disembarked  from  the  vessel  on  which  he 
was  about  to  sail  for  England  and,  gathering 
up  eight  thousand  troops,  made  a  forced 
march  which  brought  him  to  Princeton  almost 
at  a  bound. 

In  the  meantime,  Washington  had  again 
crossed  the  Delaware  to  Trenton,  but  learning 
of  Cornwallis 's  rapid  approach,  he  sought  ref- 
uge behind  the  little  Assanpink  Greek  which 
flows  past  the  town,  and  to  gain  time  for  this 
movement  he  threw  forward  a  body  of  troops 
under  General  Greene,  with  orders  to  delay  the 
enemy  by  every  possible  means.  Certainly  the 
situation  was  perilous  in  the  extreme,  for 
Cornwallis 's  force,  which  included  the  best 
regiments  in  the  British  army,  was  sufficient 

142 


CORNERED    BUT    NOT    CAUGHT 

to  annihilate  or  capture  the  Americans,  and  to 
attempt  the  repassage  of  the  Delaware  in  the 
face  of  hostile  artillery  would  have  been  court- 
ing destruction. 

Time  was,  therefore,  of  vital  importance  to 
Washington,  and  Greene  and  his  men  obtained 
it  for  him.  At  every  turn  of  the  road  from 
Princeton  and  under  cover  of  every  thicket 
they  lay  in  wait  for  the  enemy,  and  so  deadly 
was  their  fire  that  the  advancing  infantry  was 
frequently  forced  to  halt  and  call  the  artillery 
to  its  support,  with  the  result  that  eight  hours 
were  consumed  in  covering  as  many  miles. 
Indeed,  by  the  time  the  vanguard  of  the  enemy 
reached  Trenton,  the  sun  of  January  2,  1777 
was  already  sinking  and  Washington  was  in 
comparative  safety  behind  the  Assanpink 
Creek.  Nevertheless,  Cornwallis  made  several 
attacks  upon  the  bridge  over  that  stream  be- 
fore nightfall,  and  had  it  not  been  for  the  skill- 
ful posting  of  the  artillery,  it  is  not  unlikely 
that  he  would  have  effected  a  crossing  and  des- 
troyed or  captured  Washington's  whole  force 
before  another  day  had  dawned.  Darkness, 
the  American  cannon,  and  the  exhaustion  of 
his  troops,  however,  soon  caused  the  British 
commander  to  cease  his  attack,  remarking  of 

143 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

Washington  that  he  would  "  bag  the  old  fox 
in  the  morning." 

Now  was  the  time  for  the  American  Gen- 
eral to  think  quickly  and  coolly,  if  he  was  to 
save  himself  and  his  army,  for  the  situation 
was  almost  hopeless  and  escape  seemed  im- 
possible. But,  face  to  face  with  danger,  Wash- 
ington stood  unafraid.  He  knew  from  the 
size  of  the  army  confronting  him  that  Corn- 
wallis  must  have  a  considerable  baggage  train 
with  food  and  ammunition  somewhere  behind 
him,  and  that  he  must  have  left  a  portion  of 
his  army  to  guard  those  supplies,  either  at 
Princeton  or  New  Brunswick — the  nearest 
and  most  convenient  points  for  that  purpose. 
If,  therefore,  the  American  army  could  be 
swung  around  the  main  body  of  the  enemy 
during  the  night  and  hurled  against  this  rear 
guard,  all  might  not  yet  be  lost. 

The  moment  this  thought  occurred  to  him, 
Washington  hastened  to  act.  One  company 
was  left  to  pile  rails  on  the  camp  fires  and  keep 
them  blazing  brightly  through  the  night,  and 
another  was  ordered  to  throw  up  intrench- 
ments  close  to  the  British  lines,  using  their 
pickaxes  and  shovels  as  noisily  as  possible 
to  give  the  enemy  every  impression  that  they 

144 


CORNERED    BUT    NOT    CAUGHT 

were  busily  preparing  for  a  desperate  resist- 
ance on  the  morrow.  Meanwhile,  with  blank- 
ets bound  around  the  cannon  wheels  to  muffle 
their  rumbling,  and  with  cautious  tread,  the 
whole  army  slipped  away  in  the  darkness, 
swinging  wide  of  Trenton  and  circling  toward 
Princeton  with  such  secrecy  and  speed  that 
some  of  the  officers  who  slept  at  a  distance 
from  the  main  camp  knew  nothing  at  all  of  the 
movement  until  they  woke  up  the  next  morn- 
ing and  found  their  comrades  gone.  Perhaps 
it  might  have  been  better  if  the  march  had  been 
delayed  a  little,  for  before  Princeton  was 
reached,  the  skirmishers  collided  with  part  of 
the  British  rear  guard  moving  forward  to  re- 
enforce  Corwallis,  and  a  sharp  encounter  fol- 
lowed. At  first  the  enemy  supposed  they  were 
being  attacked  by  a  mere  party  of  stragglers, 
but  to  their  utter  amazement  they  soon  found 
themselves  confronting  the  whole  American 
army.  There  was  nothing  to  do  but  fight  or 
surrender,  and  they  fought  this  army  which 
had  "  dropped  upon  them  from  the  clouds  " 
with  splendid  courage,  but  the  odds  were  hope- 
less and  Washington  tore  through  them  like  a 
whirlwind,  allowing  those  that  fled  to  Trenton 
to  escape  unmolested,  but  pursuing  those  that 

145 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

turned  to  Princeton,  until  practically  all  were 
killed  or  captured. 

Meanwhile,  Cornwallis  continued  his  prep- 
arations for  bagging  his  fox,  and  it  was  not 
until  he  heard  the  sound  of  cannon  behind  him 
that  he  discovered  that  his  bag  had  a  hole  in  it. 
Even  then  he  could  not  believe  that  his  prey 
had  escaped  him  and,  swinging  about,  he  pur- 
sued with  the  utmost  vigor.  It  was  well  he 
did  so,  for  with  a  few  more  hours  at  his  dis- 
posal, Washington  might  have  reached  New 
Brunswick  and  captured  or  destroyed  all  the 
British  provisions  and  supplies,  with  the  mil- 
itary chest  containing  £70,000 — a  feat  which 
might  possibly  have  ended  the  war.  The  dis- 
tance was,  however,  too  great  for  his  tired  men 
with  the  enemy  close  upon  their  heels,  and  he 
therefore  reluctantly  abandoned  this  part  of 
his  plan  and,  turning  to  the  Basking  Ridge 
Hills,  was  soon  safe  from  pursuit  at  Morris- 
town. 

The  effect  of  this  brilliant  movement  was  to 
leave  the  British  army  practically  stranded  in 
New  Jersey  and  to  encourage  the  other  Ameri- 
can commanders  to  press  forward.  Putnam 
accordingly  soon  moved  up  from  Philadelphia 
and  occupied  Princeton ;  other  troops  pushed 

146 


CORNERED    BUT    NOT    CAUGHT 

the  enemy  from  Elizabethtown  and  Newark, 
and  still  others  dropped  down  from  Peekskill 
and  seized  Hackensack,  until  hardly  a  vestige 
of  New  Jersey  remained  to  the  invaders,  and 
all  parts  of  the  American  army  were  in  close 
touch  again. 

Thus  ended  a  campaign  which  for  skill  and 
daring  has  no  parallel  in  military  history,  and 
which  practically  saved  the  American  revolu- 
tion at  a  time  when  the  bravest  hearts  des- 
paired. 


CHAPTER   XX 

A  GAME  OF  STRATEGY 

For  five  months  the  American  army  re- 
mained unmolested  at  Morristown,  but  while 
the  winter  thus  slipped  away,  Washington  la- 
bored incessantly  to  prepare  for  the  campaign 
which  he  knew  the  British  were  planning  for 
the  coming  Spring.  The  amount  of  work 
which  he  undertook  and  accomplished  between 
January  and  June,  1777,  can  be  understood 
only  by  reading  the  immense  mass  of  letters 
and  orders  which  he  wrote  during  that  period. 
Virtually  the  whole  burden  of  the  Revolution 
rested  on  his  shoulders  and  he  bore  it  without 
a  thought  of  himself.  Under  any  circum- 
stances the  task  would  have  been  gigantic,  but 
with  the  conditions  as  they  were  it  was  almost 
impossible.  The  States  were  suspicious  of 
each  other,  and  practically  devoid  of  national 
feeling;  the  generals  were  jealous  of  one  an- 
other, and  easily  offended ;  the  business  of  the 

148 


A    GAME    OF    STRATEGY 

country  was  nearly  at  a  standstill;  the  army 
lacked  almost  everything  necessary  to  make  it 
an  effective  fighting  force,  and  Congress  had 
neither  the  money  to  supply  its  needs  nor  the 
authority  to  collect  it. 

All  that  could  be  done  to  meet  this  situa- 
tion Washington  did.  He  mortgaged  or  sold 
his  own  property  and  used  the  money  to  help 
pay  and  equip  the  troops;  he  persuaded  the 
leading  men  of  the  various  colonies  to  lay  aside 
their  differences  and  fight  for  the  common 
cause;  he  tactfully  smoothed  over  the  petty 
quarrels  among  his  officers,  when  patience  was 
needed,  and  denounced  them  without  mincing 
words,  when  plain  talk  was  essential  to  disci- 
pline. Day  after  day,  and  week  after  week  he 
kept  at  this  exhausting  work  which  was  nei- 
ther glorious  nor  heroic,  nor  even  exciting,  but 
which  enabled  him,  by  the  end  of  May,  to  pre- 
sent a  fairly  bold  front  to  the  enemy. 

It  was  not  difficult  to  foresee  what  the  next 
move  of  the  British  would  or  should  be.  Be- 
tween New  England  and  the  rest  of  the  colo- 
nies flowed  the  Hudson  River.  Once  this  was 
in  the  possession  of  the  enemy,  Massachusetts, 
Connecticut,  Rhode  Island,  Vermont,  New 
Hampshire,  and  Maine  would  be  entirely  cut 

149 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

off  from  their  sister  colonies,  for  the  British 
navy  held  absolute  mastery  of  the  sea,  and  if 
the  Hudson  were  under  similar  control  no 
more  Southern  troops  would  be  able  to  cross 
into  New  England  and  no  New  England  re- 
enforcements  could  reach  the  South.  With 
the  colonies  thus  divided  it  would  be  a  com- 
paratively simple  matter  to  suppress  the  whole 
Revolution.  All  this  was  perfectly  evident  to 
Washington,  and  to  guard  against  it  he  de- 
voted much  time  and  attention  to  the  defense 
of  the  river,  purposely  weakening  the  force 
under  his  immediate  command  by  sending 
reinforcements  there  and  holding  himself  in 
readiness  to  cooperate  with  them  as  soon  as 
the  enemy's  plans  were  fully  developed. 

The  opening  moves  of  his  opponents,  how- 
ever, were  somewhat  confusing,  and  as  the 
strategy  they  employed  was  largely  dictated 
from  London  by  men  wholly  ignorant  of  Am- 
erica, it  is  not  surprising  that  they  did  not 
handle  the  troops  to  the  best  advantage.  Early 
in  June,  General  Burgoyne  started  to  invade 
New  York  from  Canada,  with  the  evident  in- 
tention of  beginning  the  conquest  of  the  Hud- 
son from  the  North,  but  instead  of  proceeding 
up  the  river  to  cooperate  with  him,  General 

150 


A   GAME    OF    STRATEGY 

Howe  advanced  through  New  Jersey,  as 
though  he  intended  to  attack  Philadelphia. 
To  meet  this  move,  Washington  promptly 
marched  his  army  to  Middlebrook,  New  Jer- 
sey, an  exceedingly  strong  position,  where  he 
was  close  enough  to  reach  the  Hudson  without 
much  loss  of  time,  and  near  enough  to  Phila- 
delphia to  defend  it  in  case  of  need.  Then  for 
almost  three  weeks  Howe  maneuvered  his 
army,  now  advancing,  and  now  retreating, 
with  the  apparent  purpose  of  drawing  Wash- 
ington from  his  stronghold  and  tempting  him 
to  a  general  engagement. 

But  the  American  commander  declined  to 
walk  into  the  trap.  His  business  was  to  de- 
fend the  Hudson  and  he  did  not  intend  to 
weaken  his  army  by  useless  fighting.  Like  the 
experienced  checker  player  who  looks  before 
he  jumps,  he  saw  the  object  of  his  adversary 
and  stayed  where  he  was,  with  the  result  that 
Howe  soon  wearied  of  the  game  and  retired  to 
Staten  Island,  the  point  from  which  he  had 
originally  started.  Everything  then  indicated 
that  he  would  at  once  move  up  the  Hudson  to 
meet  Burgoyne,  who  was  successfully  making 
his  way  toward  the  river,  and  Washington, 
fully  persuaded  of  this,  returned  to  Morris- 

151 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

town,  from  which  he  could  speedily  throw  his 
forces  across  Howe's  path.  Indeed,  so  con- 
fident was  he  that  Howe  would  not  leave 
Burgoyne  to  fight  his  way  unassisted  in  the 
wilderness  through  which  he  was  descending, 
that  two  divisions  of  the  army  were  actually 
sent  over  the  river  and  the  others  held  in  read- 
iness to  cross  at  a  moment's  notice. 

About  this  time,  however,  news  arrived 
that  Howe  had  placed  his  whole  army  on  board 
the  fleet  and  was  sailing  southward  from  New 
York,  apparently  bound  for  Philadelphia. 
Amazing  as  this  seemed,  Washington  ordered 
the  regiments  which  had  been  thrown  across 
the  Hudson  back  to  the  west  shore  of  the  river, 
and  moved  cautiously  toward  Philadelphia, 
"  continually  casting  his  eyes  behind  him," 
lest  Howe's  movement  should  prove  to  be  a 
trick  to  lure  him  away  from  the  real  point  of 
attack.  His  suspicions  seemed  fully  justified 
by  the  news  that  followed,  for  the  British  fleet 
had  no  sooner  been  sighted  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Delaware  River  than  it  again  put  to  sea.  This 
seemed  positive  proof  that  the  whole  maneuver 
was  nothing  but  an  elaborate  effort  to  entice 
the  Americans  away  from  the  Hudson,  and  the 
army  was  once  more  headed  for  the  river. 

152 


A   GAME    OF    STRATEGY 

But  to  Washington's  astonishment  neither 
the  British  commander  nor  his  fleet  appeared, 
and  for  weeks  no  one  had  the  slightest  idea 
what  had  become  of  them.  That  Howe  had  de- 
cided to  abandon  Burgoyne  seemed  too  good  to 
be  true,  for  the  whole  countryside  was  already 
closing  in  on  that  General,  and  unless  assist- 
ance soon  reached  him  his  fate  was  absolutely 
sealed.  Nevertheless,  all  doubt  vanished  to- 
ward the  end  of  August,  when  the  fleet  re- 
appeared near  the  Head  of  Elk,  in  Chesapeake 
Bay,  far  to  the  south  of  Philadelphia,  the  Brit- 
ish commander  having  journeyed  for  over 
three  weeks  to  reach  a  point  little  or  no  nearer 
Philadelphia  than  he  had  been  in  July,  on  the 
ridiculous  supposition  that  his  ships  could  not 
sail  up  the  Delaware.  There  was  no  time,  how- 
ever, to  wonder  at  this  error  or  to  rejoice  in 
Howe's  unhoped-for  appearance.  The  great 
fact  was  that  his  army  had  landed  in  Mary- 
land, hundreds  of  miles  away  from  Burgoyne, 
and  the  one  object  of  the  campaign  now  was 
to  keep  him  occupied  until  the  time  for  a 
rescue  had  gone  by.  With  this  object  Wash- 
ington hastened  to  Delaware  and  prepared  to 
throw  his  whole  army  squarely  across  his  op- 
ponent's path. 

153 


CHAPTER   XXI 

i. 

THE  BATTLE  OF  BEANDYWINE 

To  defeat  the  enemy  was  almost  more  than 
Washington  dared  hope,  as  he  had  only  eleven 
thousand  men,  many  of  whom  had  never  been 
under  fire,  while  Howe  commanded  eighteen 
thousand  of  the  best  and  most  perfectly 
equipped  troops  which  England  had  thus  far 
placed  in  the  field.  Nevertheless,  success  was 
not  impossible,  for  the  country  was  fairly  de- 
fensible, and  it  was,  presumably,  more  fa- 
miliar to  the  Americans  than  to  their  op- 
ponents. But  Howe  was  better  served  by  his 
guides  than  he  had  been  by  his  pilots  on  the 
Delaware,  and  soon  after  landing  he  advanced 
slowly  but  with  the  same  sureness  of  purpose 
which  had  marked  his  advance  at  the  battle 
of  Long  Island. 

In  the  meantime  Washington  moved  to 
Philadelphia,  and  here  he  met  a  young  French 
nobleman  who  had  just  arrived  from  France, 

154 


THE    BATTLE    OF    BRAND YWINE 

to  fight  for  the  cause  of  American  liberty. 
This  was  the  Marquis  de  Lafayette,  a  boy  in 
years  but  a  man  in  character,  who  had  seen 
service  as  an  officer  in  the  French  army,  and 
whose  modesty  and  unselfishness  at  once  made 
a  favorable  impression  upon  the  Commander- 
in-Chief.  Other  Frenchmen  had  come  to  Am- 
erica with  the  idea  of  joining  the  army,  but 
most  of  them  had  proved  so  insolent,  greedy, 
and  troublesome  that  Congress  was  in  no  mood 
to  welcome  the  arrival  of  any  more.  But  from 
the  outset  Lafayette  displayed  a  very  different 
spirit,  for  he  promptly  volunteered  to  serve 
without  pay  and  without  rank,  saying  that  as 
soon  as  he  had  heard  of  American  indepen- 
dence his  heart  was  enlisted.  Congress  ac- 
cordingly appointed  him  a  Major-General,  and 
when  the  army  passed  through  Philadelphia 
he  acted  as  one  of  Washington's  Aides. 

The  troops  had  now  been  under  arms  for 
many  weeks,  and  the  long,  rapid  marches  and 
countermarches  they  had  made  in  meeting 
Howe's  maneuvers  had  rendered  them  foot- 
sore and  weary,  but  they  entered  the  town  with 
flags  flying  and  drums  beating,  wearing  sprigs 
of  evergreen  in  their  hats  and  otherwise  pre- 
senting the  best  possible  appearance.    Never- 

155 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

theless,  the  dusty  and  curiously  uniformed 
ranks  must  have  looked  strange  to  the  young 
Frenchman  as  they  filed  past  him,  and  Wash- 
ington remarked  that  he  regretted  not  being 
able  to  make  a  better  showing  before  an  officer 
fresh  from  the  army  of  France.  Probably  he 
said  this  to  test  his  new  acquaintance,  but 
Lafayette  promptly  responded,  "It  is  to  learn, 
sir,  and  not  to  criticise  that  I  am  here,"  and 
this  quiet,  tactful  reply  of  a  boy  not  then 
twenty  years  of  age  instantly  won  the  com- 
mander's respect.  From  that  time  forward  he 
made  the  Marquis  his  friend,  and  a  few  days 
later,  when  the  British  outposts  caught  sight 
of  the  General  reconnoitering  the  position  of 
their  army,  they  reported  that  he  was  closely 
attended  by  a  very  youthful  officer  dressed  in 
a  French  uniform. 

Washington  stationed  his  forces  near  Wil- 
mington, Delaware,  immediately  upon  leaving 
Philadelphia,  and  for  about  two  weeks  he 
watched  the  enemy,  skirmishing  with  their 
advance  guard  as  they  moved  forward  and 
falling  back  slowly  while  he  searched  for  a 
favorable  position  at  which  to  check  their 
march.  Between  them  and  Philadelphia,  and 
squarely  across  their  path  to  that  city,  flowed 

156 


THE  BATTLE    OF   BRAND YWINE 

the  Brandywine  Creek,  and  behind  this  Wash- 
ington posted  his  army  on  September  11, 1777. 

The  position  was  well  chosen,  for  the 
stream  had  only  one  convenient  ford,  and  this 
crossing,  known  as  Chad's  Ford,  was  guarded 
by  steep  banks,  while  to  the  right  and  left  the 
American  troops  were  so  placed  as  to  give 
every  prospect  of  success.  But  on  this  oc- 
casion Howe  handled  his  men  with  rare  skill 
and  judgment.  In  front  of  Chad's  Ford  he 
massed  a  heavy  force  under  the  German  Gen- 
eral Knyphausen,  with  the  evident  intention 
of  forcing  a  passage  of  the  river  at  that  point, 
and  while  the  Americans  under  General 
Greene  were  hotly  engaged  in  repelling  this 
attack,  he  and  Lord  Cornwallis  led  a  strong 
force  eighteen  miles  by  a  roundabout  route  to 
another  ford  far  beyond  the  right  flank  com- 
manded by  General  Sullivan. 

From  time  to  time  vague  reports  reached 
Washington  that  a  large  number  of  the  enemy 
were  moving  away  from  the  field  of  battle,  but 
having  little  or  no  cavalry  he  was  unable  to 
confirm  this.  Nevertheless,  he  warned  Sulli- 
van to  be  on  his  guard,  but  the  information 
which  that  General  received  contradicted  the 
rumors  of  danger  and  he  took  no  particular 

157 


ON   THE    TRAIL   OF   WASHINGTON, 

precautions  to  protect  himself.  Indeed,  it  was 
not  until  a  great  cloud  of  dust  disclosed  the 
presence  of  the  enemy  that  he  realized  that  his 
flank  was  being  turned,  and  it  was  then  too 
late  to  do  much  more  than  save  his  force  from 
destruction. 

The  British  commanders  gave  their  oppo- 
nents no  chance  to  recover  from  their  surprise, 
and  the  red-coated  regulars  dashed  across  the 
ford  and  hurled  themselves  upon  Sullivan's 
troops  with  well-nigh  resistless  force.  For  a 
moment  it  seemed  as  though  a  panic  were  in- 
evitable, for  many  of  the  militia  regiments 
gave  way  at  the  first  onslaught  and  a  period  of 
hopeless  confusion  followed.  In  vain  the  of- 
ficers called  on  their  men  to  stand  firm,  and 
Lafayette,  throwing  himself  into  the  thickest 
of  the  fight,  fell  with  a  bullet  through  his  leg, 
and  was  only  saved  from  capture  or  death  by 
another  officer,  who  helped  him  on  his  horse 
and  hurried  him  to  a  place  of  safety. 

Meanwhile  Washington,  hearing  the  firing 
far  away  on  his  right  and  fearing  some  disas- 
ter, dashed  toward  the  sound,  followed  by  his 
Aides  and  guided  by  a  frightened  and  unwill- 
ing old  man,  named  Joseph  Brown,  who  had 
been  hoisted  on  a  horse  and  told  to  lead  the 

158 


THE    BATTLE    OF    BRANDYWINE 

way  at  top  speed.  Away  they  dashed  across 
the  fields,  flying  over  fences  and  ditches, 
Washington  continually  urging  his  guide  to 
set  a  faster  pace  and  exclaiming  "  Push  along, 
old  man!  Push  along!  "  whenever  he  showed 
signs  of  weakening.  But  despite  this  wild 
steeple-chase,  before  the  Commander-in-Chief 
could  reach  the  scene  of  action,  the  defeated 
columns  came  rolling  back  in  dire  confusion. 

One  glance  was  sufficient  to  convince  him 
that  the  attack  on  Chad's  Ford  had  been 
merely  a  feint,  and  that  if  this  flank  movement 
was  not  speedily  checked  the  enemy  would  get 
behind  him,  and  his  whole  army  would  be 
caught  between  two  fires.  He  therefore  or- 
dered Greene  to  fall  back  from  Chad's  Ford 
and  come  to  Sullivan's  rescue,  and  so  skill- 
fully were  his  orders  obeyed  that  the  British 
advance  was  halted  and  the  rout  which  had  al- 
ready begun  was  turned  into  a  respectable 
retreat. 

Meanwhile,  however,  General  Knyphausen 
took  advantage  of  Greene's  withdrawal  to 
push  across  Chad's  Ford,  and  before  nightfall 
Howe  had  a  clear  road  to  Philadelphia. 


CHAPTER   XXII 

A   FIGHT   IN   A   FOG 

The  battle  of  Brandywine  was  not  a  ruin- 
ous disaster,  but  it  cost  the  Americans  fully  a 
thousand  men  and  eleven  pieces  of  artillery, 
and  it  left  Philadelphia  practically  defense- 
less. Washington  was  not  the  man  to  shirk 
responsibility  for  the  result,  however,  and 
when  an  attempt  was  made  to  throw  the  blame 
on  General  Sullivan  he  promptly  notified  Con- 
gress of  his  disapproval.  That  he  had  been 
defeated,  if  not  outgeneraled,  was  undoubt- 
edly true,  but  the  enemy  had  lost  over  six  hun- 
dred men  and  he  fully  intended  to  make  their 
victory  far  more  expensive  before  the  end  of 
the  campaign.  His  main  object  had  been  to 
keep  his  adversary  busily  engaged,  and  to  ac- 
complish that  object  he  was  willing  to  be 
defeated  every  day  in  the  week. 

Thus,  while  Congress  hastily  removed  its 
books  and  papers  to  a  place  of  safety,  and  its 

160 


A   FIGHT    IN   A   FOG 

supporters  awaited  the  approach  of  the  Brit- 
ish with  fear  and  trembling,  he  began  a  game 
of  check  and  counter-check  with  his  success- 
ful opponent  which  worried  and  delayed  him 
almost  beyond  belief.  The  Schuylkill  River 
still  lay  between  the  royal  army  and  the  town, 
and  behind  this  the  American  forces  were  ma- 
neuvered so  effectively  that  the  British  did  not 
succeed  in  crossing  it  for  twelve  days  after  the 
battle  of  Brandywine,  and  did  not  occupy 
Philadelphia  until  September  26,  1777.  In 
other  words,  Washington,  at  a  very  slight  cost, 
forced  his  victorious  foe  to  consume  more  than 
two  weeks  in  advancing  twenty-six  miles,  dur- 
ing which  time  the  net  was  being  steadily 
drawn  around  Burgoyne  in  the  New  York  wil- 
derness, and  when  the  troops  at  last  marched 
into  the  city  Benjamin  Franklin  had  good  rea- 
son for  remarking  that  Howe  had  not  taken 
Philadelphia,  but  that  Philadelphia  had  taken 
Howe. 

For  a  week  after  this  event  Washington 
remained  quietly  at  Pottsgrove  (now  Potts- 
toivn),  on  the  Schuylkill  River,  about  thirty- 
five  miles  from  Philadelphia,  watching  for  an 
opportunity  to  attack.  By  this  time  he  had 
learned  enough  of  what  was  happening  in  New 

161 


ON   THE    TRAIL   OF   WASHINGTON 

York  to  make  him  sure  that  Burgoyne  was 
caught  unless  speedy  assistance  reached  him, 
and  this  cheering  news  determined  him  to  take 
any  risk  to  prevent  Howe  from  starting  to  the 
rescue.  Therefore,  the  moment  he  learned 
that  his  opponent  had  withdrawn  several  reg- 
iments to  help  destroy  the  forts  on  the  Dela- 
ware River  and  open  the  way  for  the  fleet,  he 
determined  to  strike. 

The  main  body  of  the  British  was  posted  at 
Germantown,  a  little  settlement  some  six  miles 
from  Philadelphia,  and  approachable  from 
Pottsgrove  by  four  roads.  The  town  itself 
boasted  but  one  street  and  this  was  flanked 
on  either  side  by  private  residences  sur- 
rounded by  gardens.  Near  the  head  of  this 
street  stood  a  handsome  stone  dwelling  belong- 
ing to  Mr.  Justice  Chew,  and  in  the  fields  in 
front  of  this  house  lay  the  Fortieth  Regiment 
commanded  by  Colonel  Musgrave.  Farther 
down  the  street,  behind  what  was  known  as 
the  Market  House,  other  regiments  occupied 
strong  positions,  all  within  easy  support  of  the 
garrison  in  Philadelphia,  while,  for  a  good 
mile  in  advance  of  the  Chew  Mansion,  Howe 
had  thrown  forward  a  whole  battalion  of  light 
infantry  and  a  swarm  of  pickets  and  sentries. 

162 


A   FIGHT    IN   A   FOG 

The  only  hope  of  defeating  this  well-posted 
force  lay  in  a  surprise,  and  Washington  se- 
lected the  night  of  October  3,  1777,  for  the 
attempt.  Starting  his  men  on  their  long  march 
about  seven  in  the  evening,  he  moved  them  so 
rapidly  that  they  reached  their  destination  be- 
fore sunrise  the  next  morning,  and  though 
some  vague  rumors  of  his  advance  reached  the 
British  camp,  they  excited  no  alarm.  Just 
outside  the  town  he  divided  his  command  into 
four  columns,  assigning  each  to  one  of  the  four 
roads  leading  into  the  town,  with  orders  that 
they  should  all  press  forward  at  the  same  mo- 
ment, and  pouring  in  from  different  directions, 
drive  the  attack  home  with  a  fury  that  would 
create  confusion,  divide  the  enemy,  and  afford 
an  opportunity  for  overwhelming  its  various 
detachments,  one  at  a  time.  This  plan,  which 
aimed  at  nothing  less  than  the  destruction  of 
the  entire  British  army,  was  an  ambitious  and 
daring  move,  in  view  of  the  fact  that  the 
Americans  were  outnumbered,  but  it  was  well 
thought  out,  and  the  four  divisions  moved  to 
their  posts  full  of  confidence  and  hope,  John 
Marshall,  the  future  Chief  Justice  of  the 
United  States,  marching  with  one  of  the  col- 
umns.    By  this  time,  however,  a  heavy  fog 

163 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

hung  over  the  roads  and  fields,  and  before 
the  final  advance  was  fairly  started  the  con- 
verging columns  were  completely  screened 
from  each  other's  view,  and  the  men  had  to 
grope  their  way  forward  with  considerable 
caution. 

Down  the  main  road  toward  the  head  of  the 
street  crept  the  Americans  under  General  An- 
thony Wayne,  and  before  long  they  struck  the 
British  sentries  and  gobbled  them  up  almost 
before  they  had  time  to  cry  out.  The  surprise 
was  complete,  but  as  the  Americans  pressed 
forward,  sweeping  everything  before  them, 
they  suddenly  stumbled  upon  Colonel  Mus- 
grave's  Regiment,  which  sprang  to  arms,  tak- 
ing cover  behind  fences,  walls,  and  hedges,  and 
a  fierce  struggle  followed,  the  combatants 
fighting  at  close  range  and  firing  at  the  flashes 
of  each  other's  muskets  through  the  curtain 
of  fog.  It  was  only  for  a  moment,  however, 
that  the  onrush  was  checked  and  most  of  the 
Fortieth  Regiment  was  soon  flying  at  top 
speed  from  the  victorious  Americans,  leaving 
its  Colonel  and  a  handful  of  men  practically 
surrounded. 

But  Colonel  Musgrave,  though  cornered, 
was  far  from  being  caught.    His  one  chance  of 

164 


A   FIGHT    IN   A   FOG 

escape  lay  in  reaching  some  shelter  where  he 
could  hold  out  until  reinforcements  reached 
him,  and,  taking  it,  he  made  a  dash  for  the 
Chew  Mansion  immediately  behind  him,  threw 
his  men  inside,  and  opened  a  brisk  fire  from  the 
windows  on  his  pursuers  as  they  leaped  for- 
ward out  of  the  fog.  For  a  moment  the  Amer- 
icans hesitated.  The  gallant  officer  and  his  men 
were  completely  surrounded  and  could  not  pos- 
sibly escape,  so  a  young  Virginian  lieutenant 
was  sent  forward  with  a  white  flag  to  demand 
their  immediate  surrender.  Doubtless  they  did 
not  see  his  handkerchief,  or  bit  of  white  rag,  in 
the  misty  light,  and  before  he  came  within  hail- 
ing distance  a  musket  in  one  of  the  upper  win- 
dows flashed  and  the  officer  fell  dead,  clutch- 
ing his  flag  of  truce. 

From  that  instant  the  fate  of  the  whole  en- 
terprise was  practically  sealed,  for  Wayne's 
division,  instead  of  leaving  the  building  under 
a  sufficient  guard  and  pressing  forward  ac- 
cording to  "Washington's  plan,  determined  to 
avenge  what  was  regarded  as  the  wanton 
murder  of  their  comrade,  and  bringing  up  can- 
non they  proceeded  to  batter  the  house  to 
pieces.  But  the  old  dwelling  was  strongly  con- 
structed and  the  cannon  balls  made  but  little 

165 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

impression  on  its  stone  walls.  Efforts  were 
then  made  to  set  it  on  fire  and  carry  it  by  as- 
sault, but  Colonel  Musgrave  and  bis  men,  real- 
izing the  temper  of  their  assailants  and  the 
strength  of  their  own  position,  heroically  de- 
termined to  sell  their  lives  as  dearly  as  pos- 
sible, and  the  Americans  who  stepped  ont  of 
the  fog  bank  and  within  range  of  their  muskets 
courted  death. 

Solid  shot  crashed  through  the  windows 
and  tore  the  doors  apart;  plaster  and  bricks 
flew  up  in  dust ;  chimneys  toppled,  and  the  bar- 
ricades of  furniture  were  blown  to  splinters, 
but  though  rush  after  rush  was  made  to  take 
advantage  of  these  openings,  only  one  man 
reached  the  windows  alive.  Indeed,  no  less 
than  fifty-seven  Americans  fell  under  the 
deadly  fire  that  spurted  from  every  loophole 
of  the  improvised  fortress,  and  every  victim 
increased  the  assailants'  rage.  The  roar  of 
this  violent  mimic  battle  was,  of  course,  heard 
by  the  other  parts  of  the  Continental  army, 
and  before  long  several  battalions,  a  brigade, 
and  a  whole  division  were  hurriedly  groping 
their  way  toward  what  they  supposed  to  be 
the  main  field  of  action,  each  screened  from 
the  other  by  the  fog. 

166 


A   FIGHT    IN   A   FOG 

Up  to  this  moment  success  was  far  from 
impossible,  for  some  of  the  divisions  had  al- 
ready fallen  upon  the  British  and  were  driv- 
ing them  with  considerable  confusion  back 
upon  their  supports.  Indeed,  a  little  pressure 
would  undoubtedly  have  started  the  panic 
upon  which  Washington  had  counted,  but  the 
bombardment  of  the  Chew  Mansion  delayed 
Wayne's  troops,  and  before  this  could  be  cor- 
rected two  of  the  brigades  which  were  moving 
toward  the  sound  of  the  cannonading  got  di- 
rectly behind  Wayne's  division,  and  mistaking 
them  for  the  enemy,  fired  point-blank  into 
their  ranks,  and  believing  that  they  were  being- 
attacked  from  the  rear,  Colonel  Musgrave's 
besiegers  began  a  retreat. 

Meanwhile  the  other  divisions,  finding 
themselves  without  support,  gave  way  before 
the  reinforcements  which  the  British  hurried 
from  Philadelphia  and  something  very  like  a 
panic  struck  the  entire  American  force.  For 
a  time  it  seemed  as  though  the  day  which  had 
begun  with  such  brilliant  prospects  would  end 
in  utter  disaster,  but  Washington,  ably  sec- 
onded by  Greene,  soon  got  control  of  the  fugi- 
tives, and  when  Howe  started  to  pursue  he 
found  the  Americans  so  skillfully  posted  that 

167 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

he  retired,  well  satisfied  with  having  saved  his 
army. 

Washington  thereupon  withdrew  his  troops 
in  good  order,  having  lost  about  a  thousand 
men,  of  which  four  hundred  were  taken  pris- 
oners, but  having  inflicted  such  a  blow  on  the 
enemy  that  all  thought  of  rescuing  Burgoyne 
was  abandoned,  and  within  two  weeks  of  the 
battle  of  Germantown  that  General  and  his 
whole  army  surrendered  at  Saratoga. 

Gates  promptly  sent  word  of  this  great  suc- 
cess to  Congress,  without  troubling  to  notify 
his  Commander-in-Chief,  whose  splendid  gen- 
eralship had  made  the  victory  possible,  but 
Washington  scarcely  noticing  the  affront  in 
his  joy  over  the  news,  sent  warm  congratula- 
tions to  the  northern  army  and  busied  himself 
with  keeping  Howe  penned  up  in  Philadel- 
phia. 

For  two  months  the  British  Commander 
was  in  a  most  uncomfortable  position,  for  the 
American  forts  still  held  possession  of  the 
Delaware  River  and  prevented  the  fleet  from 
reaching  the  city,  and  it  was  not  until  those 
forts  were  taken  after  a  desperate  struggle  in- 
volving great  loss  of  life  that  he  felt  himself 
secure. 

168 


A   FIGHT    IN   A   FOG 

By  this  time  winter  was  almost  at  hand  and 
Washington,  having  posted  his  army  to  ad- 
vantage within  easy  reach  of  Philadelphia, 
held  his  adversary  so  closely  in  check  that  all 
active  operations  ceased  for  well-nigh  a  year. 


CHAPTER   XXIII 

A  STRUGGLE  FOR  EXISTENCE 

The  place  which  Washington  had  selected 
for  his  winter  quarters  was  about  as  perfectly 
protected  a  spot  as  Nature  ever  devised.  In 
front  of  it  flowed  the  Schuylkill  River,  whose 
shore  at  this  point  formed  a  natural  breast- 
work, and  on  the  west  it  was  guarded  by  a 
swift-running  stream  that  supplied  power  for 
an  iron  mill  known  as  the  Valley  Forge.  In 
such  a  position  it  is  probable  that  the  army 
might  have  defied  attack  without  intrench- 
ments  of  any  kind,  but  the  men  were  immedi- 
ately set  to  work  with  shovels,  picks,  and  logs, 
and  in  a  short  time  it  fairly  bristled  with  de- 
fenses. Indeed,  before  the  army  was  perma- 
nently established  at  this  point  the  British  re- 
connoitered  the  whole  neighborhood  for  nine 
miles  in  the  hope  of  finding  an  opening,  but 
gave  it  up  in  despair. 

Valley  Forge  was  not,  however,  merely  a 
170 


A    STRUGGLE    FOR   EXISTENCE 

safe  liaven  of  refuge.  It  was  a  post  from 
which  Washington  could  menace  both  Phila- 
delphia and  New  York.  Within  twenty-five 
miles  of  Philadelphia,  it  was  so  situated  that 
Howe  could  scarcely  move  beyond  cannon 
range  without  fearing  that  the  American  army 
would  descend  on  the  town,  and  it  was  near 
enough  to  New  York  to  hold  Clinton,  who  had 
been  left  to  guard  that  city,  well  within  his 
lines.  In  other  words,  the  checkerboard  of 
war  showed  one  piece  holding  two  in  check  in 
such  a  manner  that  neither  could  be  moved 
without  opening  a  way  to  "  the  King  row." 

But,  though  Washington  and  his  men  could 
not  be  dislodged  from  Valley  Forge  by  the 
enemy,  they  were  almost  driven  from  their 
stronghold  during  the  first  two  months  of  1778 
by  the  neglect  and  mismanagement  of  Con- 
gress. With  ordinary  care  and  intelligence 
there  should  have  been,  and  there  was,  an  abun- 
dance of  food  and  clothing  for  all  the  needs  of 
the  army,  but  such  indifference  and  incompe- 
tence were  displayed  by  those  in  authority  that 
the  defenders  of  the  country  were  virtually 
left  to  perish  of  cold  and  hunger.  This  con- 
dition of  affairs  was  largely  due  to  the  fact 
that  the  ablest  representatives  of  the  Govern- 

171 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

ment  had  resigned  their  positions  to  serve  in 
the  army  or  help  in  the  affairs  of  their  own 
States.  In  this  way  the  attendance  at  the 
meetings  of  Congress  had  gradually  decreased, 
until  the  whole  business  was  conducted  by  a 
mere  handful  of  men,  sometimes  numbering 
less  than  a  dozen,  who  appointed  incapable  of- 
ficials whose  ignorance  and  neglect  threatened 
the  army  with  destruction. 

When  Washington  realized  this  he  deter- 
mined not  to  rely  on  Congress  any  longer,  and, 
taking  matters  into  his  own  hands,  he  pro- 
ceeded to  fight  famine  and  cold  as  vigorously 
as  he  had  fought  the  enemy.  His  experience 
as  a  planter  now  stood  him  in  good  stead,  for 
he  had  had  to  build  houses  and  mills,  and  pro- 
vide for  a  large  number  of  laborers  in  his 
farming  days,  and  the  knowledge  he  had 
gained  in  this  way  enabled  him  to  make  Val- 
ley Forge  a  habitable,  if  not  a  comfortable, 
encampment.  Under  his  directions  log  huts 
were  erected,  prizes  being  offered  those  sol- 
diers who  built  the  best  and  neatest  shelters; 
streets  were  planned  and  laid  out,  and  most 
important  of  all,  General  Greene  was  per- 
suaded to  serve  as  Quartermaster-General 
and  procure  the  necessary  food  and  clothing. 

172 


A    STRUGGLE    FOR   EXISTENCE 

Greene  was  essentially  a  fighting  general, 
and  the  idea  of  abandoning  all  chance  of 
glory  and  distinction  in  the  field  and  under- 
taking the  dull  work  of  seeing  that  the  troops 
had  something  to  eat  and  wear  was  hateful  to 
him.  "  History  never  heard  of  a  Quarter- 
master-General !  ' '  he  exclaimed  in  disgust,  but 
he  unselfishly  laid  aside  his  own  wishes  and, 
taking  up  his  disagreeable  duties,  performed 
them  so  well  that  if  history  never  heard  of  a 
Quartermaster-General  before  his  day,  it  has 
remembered  one  ever  since.  Under  his  ener- 
getic management  the  country  was  scoured 
for  provisions,  all  the  available  material  for 
blankets  and  clothing  was  procured,  and  after 
weeks  of  desperate  work  the  most  pressing 
needs  of  the  troops  were  met. 

But  despite  his  utmost  exertions  Washing- 
ton was  forced  to  witness  frightful  suffering 
among  his  men.  There  were  no  proper  accom- 
modations for  the  wounded,  and  starvation  and 
exposure  soon  caused  diseases  that  killed 
strong  men  by  the  score  and  spread  illness 
throughout  his  camp,  until  at  times  there  were 
scarcely  enough  men  fit  for  duty  to  guard  the 
breastworks.  Nevertheless,  the  resolute  com- 
mander struggled  to  keep  his  forces  together, 

173 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

sharing  all  their  hardships  and  devoting  him- 
self night  and  day  to  bettering  their  condi- 
tion. Inspired  by  his  splendid  courage  and  ex- 
ample, the  soldiers  bore  their  privations  almost 
without  murmuring,  each  occupant  of  a  hut 


SSL 

HlffiSfPS?"-'-' 


Washington's  headquarters  at  valley  forge  as  existing  in 

1909. 

(From  a  sketch  by  Jonathan  Ring.) 

contributing  part  of  his  clothing  whenever  one 
of  his  "bunkies"  was  ordered  on  sentry  duty, 
and  otherwise  showing  an  unselfishness  rarely 
equaled  in  the  history  of  war.  During  all  that 
cruel  winter  when  the  huts  lay  almost  buried 
in  snow,  and  the  ragged  sentries  often  froze  to 
death  at  their  posts,  and  each  day  was  a  living 
death,  there  were  practically  no  desertions 

174 


A    STRUGGLE    FOR   EXISTENCE 

among  the  native-born  Americans,  and  com- 
paratively few  of  those  who  were  born  else- 
where yielded  to  the  temptation  of  seeking 
comfort  with  the  enemy.  No  military  chief- 
tain ever  received  a  finer  tribute  than  this. 

But  while  Washington  was  thus  slowly  and 
painfully  overcoming  the  difficulties  by  which 
he  was  surrounded,  he  found  himself  con- 
fronted by  a  peril  even  more  dangerous  to  the 
American  cause.  The  small  group  of  men  who 
now  controlled  Congress  began  to  complain 
that  the  army  was  useless  at  Valley  Forge 
and  to  demand  that  the  half -starved  and  al- 
most naked  troops  be  marched  against  the 
British  in  Philadelphia,  and  when  the  Com- 
mander-in-Chief refused  to  sacrifice  his  men 
in  this  way  he  was  accused  of  being  unwilling 
to  fight.  Members  of  Congress  who  were  liv- 
ing in  comfortable  houses  with  very  little 
knowledge  and  less  thought  of  the  sufferings 
which  were  daily  being  endured  in  camp,  then 
commenced  to  compare  the  success  of  Gates 
with  Washington's  defeats  at  Brandywine  and 
Germantown,  and  to  hint  that  a  change  in  the 
commandership  of  the  army  might  be  desir- 
able. 

All  this  was  doubtless  done  to  provoke 
175 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

Washington  into  resigning,  but  he  remained 
silent  until  he  discovered  that  the  man  who 
was  at  the  bottom  of  all  the  mischief  was  a  dis- 
contented Irish  adventurer  named  Conway, 
and  that  General  Gates  himself  was  secretly 
encouraging  this  underhanded  business  with 
the  idea  of  obtaining  the  chief  command.  The 
fact  was  that  Gates  had  by  this  time  fully  per- 
suaded himself  that  the  capture  of  Burgoyne 
was  due  entirely  to  his  generalship,  whereas 
no  one  had  much  less  claim  to  a  share  in  that 
success  than  he.  Benedict  Arnold  had  done 
most  of  the  real  fighting,  Schuyler  had  man- 
aged practically  the  whole  campaign,  and 
Washington  had  kept  Howe  from  going  to  the 
rescue.  But  Gates,  who  had  taken  command 
only  a  short  time  before  the  surrender,  re- 
ceived the  official  credit  of  it,  and  being  a  weak 
and  easily  flattered  man,  it  went  to  his  head. 
He  therefore  began  slyly  working  to  make 
Congress  dissatisfied  with  Washington  and 
Conway,  expecting  to  be  rewarded  if  Gates 
got  the  command,  did  his  best  to  persuade  all 
with  whom  he  came  in  contact  that  Washing- 
ton was  not  a  fit  man  for  head  of  the  army. 

But  even  when  the  Commander-in-Chief 
knew  this,  he  did  not  at  once  expose  the  plot, 

176 


WASHINGTON'S   FIRST   MEETING   WITH   ALEXANDER   HAMILTON. 
Harlem  Heights,  September  15,   1776. 


A    STRUGGLE   FOR   EXISTENCE 

fearing  that  a  quarrel  among  the  officers  might 
have  a  bad  effect  on  the  soldiers  and  do  far 
more  damage  to  the  country  than  all  the  armies 
of  England  combined.  Finally,  however,  he 
tactfully  allowed  Gates  to  know  that  he  was 
aware  of  what  was  going  on  between  him  and 
Conway,  and  in  his  alarm  at  being  discovered 
Gates  took  refuge  in  a  series  of  silly  lies  which 
showed  that  he  was  a  coward  as  well  as  a  sneak 
and  placed  him  in  a  ridiculous,  if  not  a  con- 
temptible, light.  This  pitiful  exposure  was 
soon  followed  by  the  resignation  of  Major- 
General  Conway  from  the  army  and  such  a 
demonstration  of  affection  for  Washington  as 
he  had  never  before  received  from  his  fellow- 
countrymen. 

Annoying  as  this  petty  conspiracy  had 
been,  the  vigilant  commander  had  not  allowed 
it  to  interfere  with  the  work  of  building  up  the 
army  at  Valley  Forge,  and  to  his  assistance 
late  in  February,  1778,  came  one  of  the  ablest 
officers  in  the  Prussian  army.  This  was  Baron 
Steuben,  who  had  been  on  the  staff  of  Fred- 
erick, the  Great  and  who,  like  Lafayette,  had 
volunteered  to  serve  without  pay  or  rank. 
Steuben  had  been  accustomed  all  his  life  to 
handling  highly  trained  and  well-disciplined 

177 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

troops,  but  he  soon  saw  that  the  American 
privates  were  far  more  intelligent  than  the 
rank  and  file  of  European  troops,  and  that 
their  methods  of  Indian  fighting  could  be  used 
to  great  advantage  if  combined  with  a  simple 
drill.  He  therefore  adapted  the  Prussian  tac- 
tics to  suit  his  new  pupils  and,  taking  up  a 
gun,  picked  out  a  squad  of  the  smartest-look- 
ing men  and  trained  them  day  after  day  until 
they  were  prepared  to  serve  as  drillmasters 
for  their  comrades.  Many  amusing  stories  are 
told  of  Steuben's  struggles  with  his  raw  re- 
cruits, for  he  did  not  speak  very  fluent  English 
when  he  first  arrived,  and  between  his  own 
mistakes  and  those  of  his  men  he  frequently 
worked  himself  into  a  frenzy  of  rage,  and  on 
one  occasion  he  is  said  to  have  turned  exhaus- 
tedly  to  a  subordinate,  remarking  in  despair, 
"Here,  you  take  dem!  I  can  swear  at  dem  no 
more!" 

Three  months  of  this  sort  of  work  made  a 
wonderful  change  in  the  army  whose  effective- 
ness was  further  increased  by  the  formation  of 
a  small,  but  exceedingly  active,  cavalry  corps 
under  Major  Henry  Lee,  who  became  well 
known  to  his  own  generation  as  "Light  Horse 
Harry,"  and  better  known  in  later  years  as  ths 

178 


A    STRUGGLE    FOR   EXISTENCE 

father  of  Robert  E.  Lee,  one  of  the  greatest 
soldiers  that  the  world  has  ever  known. 

During  the  Spring  of  1778  a  remarkable 
group  of  young  officers  was  assembled  at  Val- 
ley Forge, — "  Mad  Anthony  "  Wayne,  aged 
thirty-three;  Lafayette,  aged  twenty;  Hamil- 
ton, aged  twenty-one;  "  Light  Horse  Harry  " 
Lee,  aged  twenty-two;  Henry  Knox,  aged 
twenty-seven;  Benedict  Arnold,  aged  thirty- 
seven  ;  to  say  nothing  of  Sullivan,  Greene,  De 
Kalb,  Lord  Stirling,  Steuben,  and  Charles 
Lee,  who  had  just  been  exchanged  for  an  Eng- 
lish prisoner. 

Mrs.  Washington,  Mrs.  Greene,  Mrs.  Knox, 
Mrs.  Stirling,  and  other  ladies  were  likewise 
present  part  of  the  time,  and  despite  the  rough 
living  the  company  did  their  best  to  keep  up 
their  spirits  with  little  dinners,  sewing  parties 
and  entertainments  of  various  kinds.  Finally, 
on  the  first  of  May,  when  the  news  arrived  that 
France  had  recognized  the  independence  of  the 
United  States  and  made  an  alliance  with  them 
against  Great  Britain,  a  service  of  Thanksgiv- 
ing was  held,  followed  by  a  review  of  the 
troops,  a  salute  of  thirteen  guns  and  a  grand 
banquet  in  the  open  air,  the  officers  linking 
arms  and  marching  around  the  tables,  thirteen 

179 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

abreast,  in  honor  of  the  union  of  the  thirteen 
states. 

Echoes  of  these  rejoicings  were  heard  by 
the  British  outposts,  but  no  one  apparently 
understood  their  meaning  and  Howe  and  his 
officers  were  enjoying  themselves  so  hugely  in 
Philadelphia  that  they  did  not  trouble  them- 
selves much  about  what  was  going  on  in  the 
camp  at  Valley  Forge.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
neither  General  Howe  nor  his  brother  the  Ad- 
miral were  in  sympathy  with  the  war  and  they 
had  good  reason  to  believe  that  England  still 
wished  and  hoped  to  win  back  the  colonies  by 
kindness  rather  than  by  force.  Up  to  the  time 
of  the  French  Alliance  this  is  probably  the 
reason  why  the  British  did  not  do  their  ut- 
most to  crush  the  Revolution,  and  it  is  cer- 
tainly the  explanation  of  Howe's  inactivity 
after  the  capture  of  Philadelphia.  Never  had 
the  city  known  such  gayety  as  the  English  of- 
ficers provided  in  the  winter  of  1778,  and  no- 
where had  the  visitors  been  more  hospitably 
received.  All  the  youth  and  beauty  of  the 
town,  rebel  and  royal,  were  apparently  ready 
to  dance  with  the  red-coated  company,  and 
Howe  encouraged  his  subordinates  in  making 
life  as  merry  as  might  be. 

180 


A    STRUGGLE    FOR   EXISTENCE 

It  was  therefore  with  keen  regret  that  they 
learned  of  his  recall  to  England,  and  the  fare- 
well fancy  dress  ball  and  carnival,  in  his  hon- 
or, which  was  largely  planned  by  young  Cap- 
tain Andre,  was  probably  the  finest  spectacle 
of  the  kind  which  the  New  World  had  ever 
seen.  Indeed,  the  only  unpleasant  feature  of 
this  memorable  night  was  a  rather  ominous 
attack  on  the  British  outposts,  showing  that 
if  the  Americans  had  not  been  invited  to  the 
party  they  had,  at  least,  not  gone  to  bed.  But 
the  fact  was  that  the  Americans  had  for  some 
time  past  been  proving  more  and  more  trouble- 
some, and  by  this  time  they  had  become  so 
active  that  the  British  foraging  parties  did  not 
dare  leave  the  city  except  under  the  protection 
of  a  full  brigade. 

Finally,  Sir  Henry  Clinton,  who  succeeded 
Howe,  realized  that  if  he  stayed  in  Philadel- 
phia much  longer,  Washington's  army,  which 
now  numbered  fifteen  thousand,  might  sur- 
round him  and  take  the  town,  and  he  therefore 
determined  to  retire  to  New  York  at  the  ear- 
liest possible  moment.  For  a  while  he  tarried 
in  the  hope  that  the  King's  Commissioners, 
who  had  arrived  in  America  with  offers  to 
grant  all  that  the  colonies  had  asked  before  the 

181 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

war  began,  might  succeed  in  securing  peace, 
but  when  they  failed  to  gain  more  than  a  re- 
spectful hearing,  he  busied  himself  in  prepara- 
tions for  escape. 

To  retreat  by  land  in  the  presence  of  Wash- 
ington's  powerful  force  was  dangerous,  but  to 
attempt  the  journey  by  sea  was  even  more  so, 
as  his  opponents  might  reach  New  York  before 
him.  Moreover,  if  he  used  the  fleet  for  his 
troops  he  would  have  to  desert  the  loyal  citi- 
zens who  had  placed  themselves  under  his  pro- 
tection and  were  clamoring  at  the  thought  of 
being  left  behind.  There  was  nothing  to  be 
done,  therefore,  but  attempt  an  overland 
march ;  so  with  the  American  cavalry  already 
hovering  on  the  outskirts  of  the  town,  he 
started  northward  at  dawn  on  June  18,  1778, 
and  by  nightfall  Benedict  Arnold  was  in 
charge  of  Philadelphia  and  Washington  was 
in  full  pursuit  of  the  retreating  enemy. 


CHAPTER   XXIV 

THE   HUNTER   HUNTED 

The  retreat  of  the  British  gave  Washing- 
ton an  opportunity  such  as  he  had  never  had 
since  the  war  began,  for  with  prompt  action 
there  was  more  than  a  fair  chance  of  destroy- 
ing their  main  army.  Only  about  eighteen 
months  earlier  he  and  his  handful  of  cold  and 
hungry  men,  with  no  baggage  but  knapsacks, 
had  scurried  across  the  freezing  Jersey  flat 
lands,  barely  escaping  Cornwallis's  eager 
clutch.  Now  the  hunter  was  being  hunted,  for 
Clinton  and  Cornwallis,  with  the  Americans  at 
their  heels,  were  struggling  through  the  same 
country  but  under  a  broiling  summer  sun  and 
a  cloud  of  choking  dust,  with  a  baggage  train 
nearly  twelve  miles  long. 

It  required  no  great  military  genius  to 
grasp  the  possibilities  of  this  situation,  but 
when  Washington  called  a  council  of  war  to 
decide  upon  the  best  method  of  attack,  General 

183 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

Charles  Lee  declared  himself  unalterably  op- 
posed to  any  attack  at  all.  The  enemy  was  re- 
treating— let  them  go  and  speed  their  going, 
was  his  astonishing  advice,  and  his  military 
reputation  was  still  so  highly  respected  in  the 
army  that  the  majority  of  the  officers  agreed 
with  him. 

Had  Washington  been  of  a  suspicious  na- 
ture this  strange  advice  might  have  put  him 
on  his  guard,  for  the  situation  ought  to  have 
been  obvious  to  any  soldier  of  Lee's  experience. 
But  though  he  had  not  forgotten  the  man's 
disobedience  of  orders  on  the  retreat  to  the 
Delaware,  Washington  had  long  since  forgiven 
it  and  he  was,  of  course,  utterly  ignorant  of  the 
fact  that  Lee  had,  within  fifteen  months,  ac- 
tually provided  Howe  with  a  written  plan  of 
campaign  against  the  Americans,  for  this 
damning  proof  of  his  treachery  was  to  remain 
hidden  for  many  years.  Therefore,  when  the 
Commander-in-Chief,  supported  by  Greene, 
Hamilton,  Wayne,  Lafayette,  and  others,  de- 
cided to  overrule  the  adverse  vote  and  make  an 
immediate  attack,  the  command  of  the  advance 
guard  was  offered  to  Lee,  to  which  post  his 
rank  and  age  entitled  him. 

Then  Providence  kindly  intervened  in 
184 


THE    HUNTER   HUNTED 

favor  of  the  American  cause,  for  Lee,  dis- 
gusted at  the  action  of  his  superior,  declined 
the  command  and  Lafayette  was  immediately 
appointed  in  his  place.  Fortunate  would  it 
have  been  for  Lee  had  his  career  ended  with 
this  refusal  of  duty  in  the  presence  of  the 
enemy ;  and  fortunate  would  it  have  been  for 
both  England  and  America.  But  fate  willed 
it  otherwise,  for  after  Lafayette  had  started, 
Lee  repented  and  asked  to  be  reinstated,  with 
the  result  that  the  young  Marquis  yielded  to 
him  at  Washington's  suggestion,  and  before 
the  advance  guard  overtook  the  British  he  was 
once  more  in  command. 

By  June  28,  1778,  the  English  forces  had 
reached  Monmouth  Court  House,  about  half- 
way between  Trenton  and  Sandy  Hook,  to- 
ward which  they  were  painfully  crawling,  men 
and  horses  fairly  gasping  in  the  terrific  heat. 
Indeed,  some  of  the  heavily  clad  soldiers  died 
like  parched  cattle  in  attempting  to  satisfy 
their  thirst  at  the  brooks  and  streams,  and  oth- 
ers were  sunstruck  or  straggled  from  the  line 
of  march.  Yet  Clinton  did  not  dare  to  halt.  Al- 
ready the  Americans  were  beginning  to  over- 
lap his  columns  and  threaten  his  line  of  re- 
treat, and  his  officers  were  seriously  advising 

185 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

the  destruction  of  his  ponderous  wagon  train 
and  a  hasty  flight  to  save  the  army.  But  the 
British  General,  although  fully  aware  of  his 
peril,  was  not  yet  ready  for  such  desperate 
measures.  Forming  his  troops  into  two  di- 
visions, he  assigned  one  to  Knyphausen,  with 
orders  to  guard  the  baggage  and  push  on  with 
it  to  Sandy  Hook  with  all  possible  speed,  while 
he  retained  the  other  under  his  own  command 
to  cover  the  retreat. 

Here  was  the  moment  for  which  Washing- 
ton had  watched  and  waited  for  well-nigh 
three  years.  With  an  army  of  almost  fifteen 
thousand  men  behind  him  and  a  divided  force 
in  his  front,  he  had  only  to  strike  with  his 
whole  strength  to  thrust  Clinton  out  of  his 
path  and  hurl  himself  on  Knyphausen,  encum- 
bered by  his  miles  of  slow-moving  wagon 
trains.  But  the  agonizing  fact  was  that  a  mis- 
creant who  had  not  the  courage  to  be  an  open 
traitor,  was  in  a  position  to  wreck  his  plan. 
The  orders  which  Lafayette  had  received  on 
setting  out  were  clear  and  positive.  He  was  to 
attack  the  enemy  and  take  advantage  of  every 
opening  to  impede  and  annoy  them,  and  Lee 
followed  with  further  orders  to  attack  vigor- 
ously, with  the  idea  of  getting  on  Clinton's 

186 


THE    HUNTER    HUNTED 

flank  and  between  him  and  Knyphausen,  but  in 
any  case  to  keep  the  rear  guard  hotly  en- 
gaged until  the  rest  of  the  army  could  come  up 
and  drive  the  attack  home. 

Clinton,  though  not  a  brilliant  soldier,  had 
no  difficulty  in  understanding  Washington's 
plan  when  he  was  advised  of  the  approach  of 
Lee's  troops.  A  cloud  of  skirmishers  in  linen 
hunting  costumes,  which  he  recognized  as 
Morgan's  rifle  corps,  had  been  bothering  his 
men  for  some  days  and  he  knew  from  this  that 
the  American  commander  was  not  far  away. 
He  therefore  saw  that  if  Lee  got  between  him 
and  the  rest  of  his  army  a  retreat  would  be 
difficult  and  that  his  only  chance  lay  in  defeat- 
ing the  advance  guard  before  Washington  ar- 
rived. As  a  forlorn  hope,  he  accordingly  faced 
about,  and,  ordering  part  of  Cornwallis's  force 
to  support  him  without  waiting  to  be  attacked, 
moved  rapidly  forward  to  meet  his  foe,  many 
of  his  men  falling  dead  from  the  heat  long  be- 
fore they  came  within  firing  range.  It  was  a 
bold  and  courageous  move,  but  had  the  Amer- 
icans  been  under  other  guidance,  the  result 
would  probably  have  been  disastrous,  for 
Wayne  and  Lafayette  were  posted  where  they 
could  have  played  havoc  with  the  approaching 

187 


ON   THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

columns.  Indeed,  they  had  not  fully  disclosed 
themselves  to  the  enemy,  but  were  waiting  to 
strike,  when,  to  their  amazement,  Lee  directed 
a  retreat. 

Astounded  as  they  were  by  this  order,  the 
two  young  commanders  obeyed,  falling  back  to 
a  ridge  from  which  they  supposed  Lee  pre- 
ferred to  stop  the  enemy's  advance,  but  to 
their  utter  chagrin  a  further  retreat  was 
ordered,  the  puzzled  regiments  giving  way 
with  increasing  confusion  as  the  British  ap- 
proached. Up  to  this  time  scarcely  a  shot  had 
been  fired,  but  now  a  shower  of  bullets  began 
to  fall  on  the  retreating  troops,  who,  huddled 
together,  had  no  opportunity  to  defend  them- 
selves. Meanwhile  messengers  had  been  hur- 
ried to  Washington  informing  him  of  what 
was  happening,  and  before  long  he  was  among 
the  flying  troops  demanding  that  Lee  explain 
the  meaning  of  his  senseless  retreat. 

Years  of  experience  in  the  field  had  long 
since  taught  Washington  the  value  of  calmness 
and  few  of  his  officers  had  ever  seen  him  show 
any  outward  signs  of  anger.  But  his  eyes 
blazed  fiercely  as  he  listened  to  Lee's  shuffling 
excuses,  and  as  they  were  still  being  stammered 
forth  he  burst  into  a  rage  which  fairly  fright- 

188 


\ 


THE    HUNTER   HUNTED 

ened  those  about  him  and,  brushing  the  culprit 
aside,  ordered  him  instantly  from  the  field. 
Then,  with  a  thundered  command  to  his  staff, 
he  dashed  forward,  stopped  the  fugitives  and 
hastened  to  re-form  their  broken  ranks.  There 
was  no  time  to  lose,  for  the  British,  exulting  in 
their  easy  victory,  were  pressing  on  with  a 
vigor  which  threatened  to  create  a  panic. 

But  now  Steuben's  training  effected  what 
personal  bravery  alone  could  not  have  accom- 
plished, and  the  men,  stripping  off  all  their 
superfluous  clothes  and  responding  quickly  to 
their  officers '  commands,  fought  like  veterans 
to  regain  the  lost  ground.  Behind  a  group 
of  farmhouses  and  under  cover  of  fences,  a 
swarm  of  unerring  marksmen  stopped  the  bat- 
talion of  English  Grenadiers  just  as  they  swept 
forward  in  a  vigorous  bayonet  charge,  which 
earlier  in  the  war  would  have  carried  the  day ; 
Greene  seized  a  range  of  hillocks  and,  planting 
his  cannon  to  advantage,  poured  a  deadly  fire 
upon  the  shattered  lines ;  ' '  Mad  Anthony  ' ' 
Wayne,  in  his  element  when  danger  threat- 
ened and  daring  was  required,  pushed  forward 
with  conspicuous  gallantry,  driving  the  enemy 
before  him,  and  the  royal  cavalry  were  almost 
cut  to  pieces. 

189 


ON   THE    TRAIL   OF   WASHINGTON 

"Washington  was  everywhere  in  the  thick- 
est of  the  fight.  "  I  never  saw  the  General 
to  so  much  advantage,"  declared  Hamilton. 
"  America  owes  a  great  deal  to  him  for  this 
day's  work.  By  his  own  presence  he  brought 
order  out  of  confusion,  animated  his  troops 
and  led  them  to  success."  All  this  time  the 
rest  of  the  American  army  was  pouring  on  to 
the  field  and  fighting  desperately,  Clinton's 
troops  were  pushed  farther  and  farther  back 
until  all  the  lost  ground  was  regained,  and  a 
general  pursuit  was  beginning  along  the  whole 
line  when  darkness  put  an  end  to  the  struggle. 

Washington  thereupon  ordered  his  men  to 
pass  the  night  on  the  battle  field,  just  where 
they  were,  in  readiness  to  resume  the  contest 
at  daybreak,  and  Clinton's  exhausted  army  lay 
on  its  arms  only  a  few  hundred  rods  away. 
Doubtless  the  Commander-in-Chief  and  his 
generals  did  not  sleep  much  during  that  swel- 
tering night,  but  as  they  lay  on  the  ground 
planning  for  the  morrow,  the  British  were 
creeping  away,  and  by  sunrise  the  two  divi- 
sions of  their  army  were  again  reunited. 

This  was  a  bitter  disappointment  to  Wash- 
ington, for  had  Clinton  not  made  this  skillful 
retreat  just  in  the  nick  of  time,  the  war  might 

190 


THE    HUNTER   HUNTED 

possibly  have  been  ended  with  his  defeat. 
However,  there  was  nothing  to  be  gained  by 
pursuing  him  to  Sandy  Hook,  where  he  would 
be  supported  by  the  fleet.  So,  placing  Lee 
under  arrest  to  face  a  court-martial  which 
suspended  him  from  the  army  in  disgrace, 
Washington  started  his  forces  toward  the 
Hudson.  Then  learning  that  a  French  fleet 
was  approaching,  he  sent  Hamilton  and  an- 
other officer  to  arrange  with  its  commander 
for  a  joint  attack  on  New  York  and,  moving 
with  his  troops  to  White  Plains,  arrived  there 
on  July  20, 1778,  and  prepared  for  battle. 


CHAPTER   XXV 

DISAPPOINTMENTS  AND  DEFEATS 

The  appearance  of  the  French  squadron 
under  Count  d'Estaing,  off  the  port  of  New 
York,  afforded  the  first  opportunity  which 
America  and  France  had  had  for  acting  to- 
gether against  the  common  enemy,  and  the 
ships  had  arrived  at  a  most  favorable  moment. 
Inside  the  harbor  the  British  had  only  a  few 
men-of-war,  and  outside  the  city  Washington 
had  a  formidable  army.  To  his  bitter  disap- 
pointment, however,  the  Commander-in-Chief 
soon  learned  that  Count  d'Estaing  refused  to 
join  in  an  attack  against  the  city,  on  the 
ground  that  the  channel  of  the  harbor  was 
not  deep  enough  to  allow  his  vessels  to  enter 
with  safety,  and  all  hope  of  capturing  the  town 
instantly  vanished.  It  was  then  proposed  that 
the  French  should  sail  to  Newport  and  assist 
the  Americans  in  driving  the  British  from  that 
place,  and  Washington  accordingly  ordered 

192 


DISAPPOINTMENTS  AND  DEFEATS 

General  Sullivan  to  march  there,  accompanied 
by  Lafayette  and  a  strong  body  of  troops. 

The  French  fleet  arrived  at  Newport  to- 
ward the  last  of  July,  1778,  and  prompt  action 
would  undoubtedly  have  resulted  in  an  impor- 
tant victory.  But  Sullivan  and  d'Estaing  did 
not  work  well  together  from  the  very  start, 
and  before  their  preparations  were  completed 
a  British  fleet  under  Lord  Howe  appeared  off 
the  harbor  and  the  French  sailed  out  to  meet 
it,  but  a  wild  storm  soon  scattered  the  combat- 
ants and  gave  them  all  they  could  do  to  save 
themselves  from  shipwreck.  Indeed,  when 
d'Estaing 's  vessels  crawled  back  into  the 
harbor  again,  they  were  so  badly  damaged  that 
their  commander  insisted  on  taking  them  to 
Boston  for  repairs,  without  waiting  to  finish 
the  task  which  he  and  Sullivan  had  begun. 
The  American  officers  indignantly  protested 
that  this  would  ruin  the  whole  expedition,  as 
they  had  not  brought  sufficient  troops  to  attack 
the  enemy  unassisted,  and  Lafayette  urged  his 
countrymen  to  wait,  but  all  arguments  were  in 
vain.  The  Frenchmen  thereupon  sailed  away ; 
the  British  attacked  Sullivan's  little  army  as 
soon  as  they  saw  it  was  deserted,  and  the  cam- 
paign ended  in  an  inglorious  retreat. 

193 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

This  second  failure  to  give  any  practical 
assistance  disgusted  and  enraged  the  Ameri- 
cans, and  for  a  time  they  despised  the  French 
almost  as  cordially  as  they  did  the  Hessians. 
Everyone  understood  that  it  was  not  love  for 
America  but  hatred  of  England  which  had  in- 
duced the  French  King  to  offer  his  assistance, 
and  such  was  the  popular  resentment  against 
d'Estaing  that  had  it  not  been  for  Washing- 
ton's tactful  interference,  the  alliance  with 
France  would  have  come  to  an  end  then  and 
there.  Even  as  it  was,  some  of  the  French 
sailors  were  killed  by  a  mob  before  the  author- 
ities controlled  the  situation,  and  it  was  many 
a  long  day  before  the  two  countries  attempted 
to  act  together  again. 

Meanwhile  Lafayette  returned  to  France 
to  visit  his  family  and  endeavor  to  persuade 
his  government  to  send  more  effective  aid  to 
the  United  States,  and  Washington,  with  his 
army  securely  posted  at  White  Plains  and  at 
other  points  around  New  York,  had  to  content 
himself  with  guarding  the  Hudson  and  holding 
the  British  practically  within  the  city.  This 
he  did  for  almost  a  year,  but  late  in  the  Spring 
of  1779  Clinton  made  an  effort  to  break  his  op- 
ponent's grip  by  moving  up  the  Hudson  and 

194 


DISAPPOINTMENTS  AND  DEFEATS 

capturing  Stony  Point,  within  a  few  miles  of 
West  Point,  the  strongest  American  fortress 
on  the  river.  Washington  instantly  saw  the 
danger  of  this  move,  and  under  his  orders 
Wayne  stormed  and  retook  the  place  at  the 
point  of  the  bayonet,  making  the  entire  garri- 
son prisoners,  and  a  little  later  "  Light  Horse 
Harry  "  Lee  moved  down  to  Paulus  Hook,  the 
site  of  the  present  Jersey  City,  and,  surpris- 
ing the  British  fort  at  that  point,  captured  it 
with  a  goodly  part  of  its  defenders.  This  was 
apparently  sufficient  to  convince  Clinton  that 
he  could  not  dislodge  his  opponent,  and  he  re- 
mained quietly  within  his  own  lines  for  the 
remainder  of  the  year. 

But  though  there  was  no  activity  in  the 
field,  Washington  had  a  constant  struggle  to 
keep  his  army  properly  clothed  and  fed,  for 
Congress  continued  to  neglect  its  duties  and 
all  its  business  speedily  fell  into  much  the  same 
condition  as  had  existed  during  the  winter  at 
Valley  Forge.  Moreover,  to  make  matters 
worse,  the  authorities  in  Philadelphia  started 
a  serious  dispute  with  General  Benedict  Ar- 
nold. Arnold  was  still  suffering  from  a  severe 
wound  which  he  had  received  during  his  bril- 
liant campaign  against  Burgoyne,  and  not  be- 

195 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

ing  yet  in  fit  condition  to  resume  his  duties  in 
the  field,  Washington  had  placed  him  in  com- 
mand of  the  city  on  the  withdrawal  of  the  Brit- 
ish. Here  his  friendship  for  some  of  the  Tory 
residents,  and  his  engagement  to  Miss  Mar- 
garet Shippen,  the  daughter  of  a  loyalist,  soon 
gave  offense  to  many  of  the  patriotic  but  nar- 
row-minded and  prejudiced  local  officials  and 
they  expressed  their  opinion  of  his  conduct  in 
no  uncertain  terms. 

Arnold  hotly  resented  this  criticism,  and 
his  high  temper  speedily  led  to  a  bitter  dis- 
pute, with  the  result  that  certain  officials  with 
whom  he  had  quarreled  took  advantage  of  the 
situation  to  vent  their  petty  spite  by  bringing 
charges  against  him  and  persecuting  him  by 
every  means  which  malice  could  invent.  Even 
when  the  gallant  hero  of  Saratoga  was  trium- 
phantly acquitted  by  the  Committee  of  In- 
vestigation, appointed  by  Congress,  they  tried 
to  rob  him  of  his  vindication  by  ordering  him 
court-martialed,  and  then  denying  him  the 
right  to  a  speedy  hearing  by  postponements 
and  delays  which  mocked  justice  and  discred- 
ited the  whole  proceedings. 

This  sorry  business  dragged  on  during 
most  of  the  year  1779,  and  though  Washington 

196 


DISAPPOINTMENTS  AND  DEFEATS 

deplored  it  and  sympathized  with  Arnold,  he 
was  unable  to  interfere.  Finally,  when  the 
court-martial  exonerated  the  accused  officer, 
but  absurdly  demanded  that  he  be  publicly 
reprimanded  for  two  trivial,  technical  offenses, 
the  Commander-in-Chief  so  worded  his  official 
reproof  that  it  was  an  honor  rather  than  a  dis- 
grace. But  this  was  very  little  comfort  to  Ar- 
nold, who,  from  that  time  on,  brooded  over 
his  wrongs  and,  bitterly  hating  his  persecutors, 
resolved  to  avenge  himself  upon  them,  no  mat- 
ter what  it  cost. 

The  year  1780  thus  opened  badly  for  the 
American  cause,  and  before  long  disasters 
began  to  multiply.  Late  in  December  of  the 
previous  year  Clinton  had  accompanied  Corn- 
wallis  to  invade  South  Carolina,  and  the 
Southern  States,  which  had  until  that  time 
practically  escaped  the  ravages  of  war,  now 
experienced  all  the  horrors  of  a  civil  conflict, 
for  there  were  almost  as  many  royalists  as 
there  were  rebels  in  the  South,  and  neighbors, 
and  even  relatives,  fought  savagely  against 
each  other. 

The  American  forces  in  South  Carolina 
were  commanded  by  General  Lincoln,  and  by 
May,  1780,  he  was  maneuvered  into  a  bad  posi- 

197 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

tion  at  Charleston  and  captured  with  his  whole 
army.  Then  Congress,  in  June,  appointed 
Gates  as  his  successor,  against  Washington's 
wishes  and  advice,  and  by  August  he  had  been 
so  shamefully  routed  at  the  battle  of  Camden 
that  his  reputation  as  a  general  was  ruined. 
Indeed,  he  fled  from  the  field  with  such  haste 
on  that  occasion  that  he  left  his  army  miles  be- 
hind him,  with  the  result  that  he  was  openly 
accused  of  cowardice  and  held  in  derision  and 
contempt.  Thus  ended  the  career  of  the  man 
who  had  taken  all  the  credit  of  Burgoyne's 
surrender  from  those  who  deserved  it,  and  had 
plotted  to  deprive  Washington  of  the  chief 
command. 

Meanwhile  Lafayette  had  returned  from 
France  with  the  cheering  news  that  a  strong 
army  and  fleet  would  soon  be  placed  at  the 
service  of  the  Americans,  but  when  General 
Rochambeau  arrived  at  Newport  in  July,  1780, 
with  the  first  installment  of  this  promised  re- 
enforcement,  he  refused  to  move  until  the  rest 
of  his  men  arrived,  and  it  was  soon  apparent 
that  they  never  would  arrive.  Before  he 
learned,  however,  that  they  were  bottled  up  by 
a  British  squadron  in  a  French  port,  another 
English  fleet  blocked  him  in  Newport,  and  for 

198 


DISAPPOINTMENTS  AND   DEFEATS 

the  third  time,  the  allies  failed  to  render  any 
practical  assistance. 

It  was  at  this  crisis  that  General  Arnold 
requested  Washington  to  give  him  command 
of  West  Point,  the  key  to  the  American  posi- 
tion on  the  Hudson,  and  upon  the  Commander- 
in-Chief's  ready  compliance  with  that  request 
the  darkest  hour  of  the  Revolution  dawned. 


CHAPTER   XXVI 

A   DESPERATE   PERIL 

Washington  doubtless  rejoiced  at  Ar- 
nold's arrival  on  the  Hudson.  Almost  from 
the  beginning  of  the  war  he  had  looked  upon 
him  as  one  of  the  ablest  generals  under  his 
command,  and  during  the  years  that  had  inter- 
vened their  acquaintance  had  ripened  into 
warm  personal  friendship.  To  feel  that  West 
Point  was  in  such  safe  hands,  therefore,  re- 
lieved the  Commander-in-Chief  of  one  of  his 
anxieties  at  a  time  when  the  burden  of  his  re- 
sponsibilities was  becoming  almost  more  than 
any  one  man  could  bear.  Indeed,  Washing- 
ton and  his  army  were  about  all  that  remained 
of  the  Revolution  after  the  disasters  in  the 
South,  for  Congress  had  lost  all  energy  and 
the  people  were  plainly  tiring  of  a  contest 
which  had  already  lasted  four  years  and 
seemed  as  though  it  would  never  end.  Busi- 
ness was  practically  at  a  standstill,  and  Ameri- 

200 


A   DESPERATE    PERIL 

can  paper  money  had  become  so  useless  that  a 
hat  cost  about  a  thousand  Continental  dollars, 
and  the  phrase  "  not  worth  a  Continental  " 
expressed  the  popular  contempt  of  its  value. 

Against  this  indifference,  nervelessness, 
and  general  languor  Washington  contended 
with  all  the  dauntless  courage  of  a  master  of 
men.  When  hope  died  out  in  one  direction  he 
resolutely  sought  it  in  another ;  when  Congress 
sank  into  helplessness  he  fairly  shook  the  rep- 
resentatives of  the  Government  into  action, 
and  persisted  in  his  demands  until  he  shamed 
or  otherwise  forced  them  to  provide  for  the  sol- 
diers in  the  field,  and  keep  the  country  in  a 
state  of  defense.  With  tireless  energy  and  in- 
exhaustible patience  he  worked  day  after  day 
at  the  seemingly  hopeless  task  of  holding  the 
crumbling  Government  together,  and,  in  spite 
of  all  obstacles,  he  did  things  or  got  them  done 
when  everyone  else  despaired.  Indeed,  the 
hundreds  upon  hundreds  of  letters  which 
poured  from  his  pen  at  this  critical  period  go 
far  to  demonstrate  that  he  was  the  only  real 
governing  force  in  the  country,  and  had  he 
been  killed  or  captured  during  1780  or  1781,  it 
is  hardly  probable  that  the  Revolution  would 
have  survived  a  day. 

201 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

The  amount  of  work  which  he  performed 
during  those  years  is  simply  marvelous;  its 
variety  is  almost  beyond  belief.  But  in  the 
mass  of  his  correspondence,  which  has  been 
preserved,  dealing  with  army  supplies,  cam- 
paign plans,  politics,  diplomacy,  finance,  and 
countless  other  subjects,  there  are  quiet,  home- 
like letters  giving  directions  for  the  manage- 
ment of  Mount  Vernon,  and  bearing  messages 
to  his  loved  ones — all  written  with  scarcely  a 
sign  of  haste.  Those  who  complain  that  they 
have  not  time  to  do  what  they  ought  to  do, 
should  read  a  few  volumes  of  Washington's 
letters  and  note  what  he  accomplished  with  no 
more  hours  at  his  command  than  other  people 
have. 

With  such  a  pressure  of  work  upon  him,  it 
is  no  wonder  then  that  the  Commander-in- 
Chief  welcomed  the  presence  of  a  trusted  of- 
ficer like  Arnold.  The  disasters  in  the  South 
and  the  increasing  weariness  of  the  whole 
country  warned  him  that  something  must  be 
done  to  relieve  the  situation.  He  had,  there- 
fore, long  been  anxious  to  consult  with  the 
French  General  Rochambeau  and  plan  a  cam- 
paign against  New  York,  with  the  idea  of 
capturing  that  city,  or  at  least  of  forcing  Corn- 

202 


A   DESPERATE    PERIL 

wallis  to  leave  the  South  and  come  to  its  rescue. 
But  to  travel  to  Newport,  where  Rochambeau 
was  stationed,  would  consume  some  time,  and 
if  the  enemy  were  to  learn  of  his  absence 
and  take  advantage  of  it,  he  felt  that  he  would 
be  justly  criticised  for  not  being  on  the 
spot.  With  Arnold  at  hand,  however,  he 
felt  more  secure,  and  he  therefore  requested 
Rochambeau  to  meet  him  halfway  at  Hart- 
ford, and  started  for  that  city  on  September 
18,  1780. 

Meanwhile  Arnold  had  been  steadily  nurs- 
ing his  grievances  against  his  enemies  in  Con- 
gress, and  his  plans  had  so  far  taken  shape  that 
he  had  written  letters  to  Clinton,  under  an  as- 
sumed name,  advising  him  that  an  American 
officer  of  high  rank  was  ready  to  help  the  Brit- 
ish end  the  war  if  he  could  be  assured  of  suffi- 
cient reward.  For  a  time  Clinton  could  not 
believe  that  the  writer  of  this  letter  was  Ar- 
nold, but  when  he  became  convinced  of  this, 
arrangements  were  made  to  reward  him  with 
a  generalship  in  the  British  army  and  a  large 
sum  of  money,  provided  he  could  guarantee 
the  capture  of  West  Point.  But  with  Wash- 
ington watching  him  this  was  more  than  the 
traitor  could  do,  so  for  weeks  he  waited,  seek- 

203 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

ing  a  favorable  opportunity  to  carry  his  plans 
into  effect. 

His  delight  at  Washington's  departure, 
therefore,  may  well  be  imagined.  This  was 
just  the  chance  for  which  he  had  been  longing, 
and  his  commander's  back  was  scarcely  turned 
before  he  hurried  a  despatch  to  Clinton,  advis- 
ing him  to  perfect  the  details  of  the  plan  with- 
out a  moment's  delay.  The  British  commander 
promptly  responded  by  ordering  his  Adjutant- 
General,  Andre,  to  proceed  up  the  Hudson  on 
the  Vulture  as  far  as  that  war  vessel  could 
go,  giving  him  full  authority  to  meet  the 
traitor  and  make  whatever  arrangements  were 
necessary. 

Andre  was  one  of  the  most  popular  young 
officers  in  the  British  army,  and  his  handsome 
face  and  charming  manners  had  won  him 
many  friends  in  Philadelphia,  to  whose  pleas- 
ure he  had  greatly  added  during  his  stay  in 
that  city.  Indeed,  Arnold's  wife,  who  was 
then  the  reigning  belle  of  the  town,  had  often 
been  his  partner  in  the  dinners  and  balls  which 
distinguished  that  gay  winter.  In  those  days 
he  had  merely  been  a  Captain,  but  now  he  was 
a  Major,  and  the  Adjutant-General  of  the 
army,  and  as  such  he  was  entirely  in  Clinton's 

204 


A  DESPERATE   PERIL 

confidence,  and  under  the  name  of  John  An- 
derson he  had  written  all  the  answers  which 
the  traitor  had  received.  His  commander, 
therefore,  merely  instructed  him  to  complete 
the  business,  at  the  same  time  warning  him  not 
to  enter  the  American  lines  or  carry  papers  or 
disguise  himself  in  any  way. 

Andre  accordingly  started  on  his  mission, 
and  two  days  after  Washington 's  departure 
he  sailed  up  the  Hudson,  landed  at  night  a  few 
miles  below  Stony  Point  and,  meeting  Arnold 
in  a  neighboring  wood,  listened  to  the  traitor's 
plans.  By  dawn  the  conspirators  were  still 
perfecting  the  details  of  their  plot,  and  the 
boatmen  who  had  taken  Andre  ashore,  refus- 
ing to  take  him  back  after  sunrise,  he  and 
Arnold  were  compelled  to  take  refuge  in  a 
house  owned  by  a  man  named  Joshua  Smith, 
well  within  the  American  lines.  They  had 
scarcely  gained  this  shelter,  however,  when  a 
most  alarming  sound  of  cannonading  reached 
their  ears,  and  springing  to  the  windows  they 
perceived  that  one  of  the  American  shore  bat- 
teries had  opened  fire  on  the  Vulture  and  that 
that  vessel  was  rapidly  dropping  down  the 
river  to  get  out  of  range.  Aghast  as  he  was  at 
this  discovery,  Andre  knew  that  the  ship  had 

205 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

orders  not  to  return  to  New  York  without  him, 
and,  feeling  sure  that  she  would  not  go  far, 
he  arranged  with  Arnold  to  have  Smith  row 
him  out  to  the  sloop-of-war  as  soon  as  night 
came  on. 

Meanwhile  the  two  conspirators  arranged 
their  plot  in  greater  detail,  and  Andre  secured 
a  number  of  papers  in  Arnold's  handwriting, 
giving  the  plans  of  the  fort  and  other  informa- 
tion. It  was  further  agreed  that  Arnold 
should  pretend  to  repair  the  chain  which  was 
stretched  across  the  river  to  prevent  the  pas- 
sage of  vessels  and,  removing  some  of  its  mid- 
dle links,  tie  the  ends  together  with  a  light 
rope  which  any  war  ship  could  easily  break, 
and  that  he  should  also  so  post  the  troops  that 
West  Point  would  be  defenseless. 

The  capture  of  the  fortress  being  thus 
assured,  the  traitor  then  departed,  but  by 
nightfall  Andre's  guide  lost  his  courage  and 
declined  to  trust  himself  in  front  of  the  Amer- 
ican batteries.  It  would  be  far  safer,  he  de- 
clared, to  cross  the  river  and  travel  down  the 
other  side  on  horseback.  Andre  did  not  like 
this  plan,  for  his  British  uniform,  which  would 
attract  no  attention  in  a  boat  at  night,  could 
not  be  worn  on  the  overland  trip,  and  his 

206 


A   DESPERATE    PERIL 

papers,  which  he  had  intended  to  weight  with 
a  stone,  ready  to  sink  in  the  water  if  necessary, 
could  not  be  so  easily  destroyed  if  he  adopted 
Smith's  advice.  However,  Arnold  had  pro- 
vided him  with  passes  for  either  land  or  water 
and,  rather  than  lose  any  more  time,  he  agreed 
to  follow  his  guide,  and,  partially  disguising 
himself  in  some  of  Smith's  clothes  and  stow- 
ing his  papers  in  his  shoes,  he  crossed  the  river 
and  started  southward  on  the  night  of  Sep- 
tember 22d. 

How  much,  or  how  little,  Smith  knew  con- 
cerning his  companion  is  uncertain,  but  he 
soon  proved  himself  a  very  cautious  person, 
and  before  many  miles  had  been  covered  he 
halted,  declaring  there  were  too  many  "  Cow- 
boys "  and  "  Skinners  "  about  to  make  night 
traveling  safe.  Andre  knew  all  about  the 
"  Cowboys,"  a  lawless  band  of  robbers  who  in- 
fested Westchester  County,  pretending  to 
favor  the  British,  and  he  had  doubtless  heard 
of  the  "  Skinners,"  the  highwaymen  who 
posed  as  American  soldiers,  but  he  was  utterly 
disgusted  with  Smith's  timidity,  and  after  an 
anxious  night  at  a  wayside  house,  he  insisted 
upon  pushing  forward  without  further  delay. 
But  Smith  still  continued  nervous,  and  the 

207 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

young  officer,  becoming  exasperated  at  the 
waste  of  precious  time,  decided  to  shift  for 
himself. 

Dismissing  his  guide,  therefore,  he  hur- 
ried on  toward  Tarrytown,  feeling  that  his 
adventures  were  almost  at  an  end  and  that  he 
would  soon  be  safely  within  the  British  lines. 
He  had  not  progressed  far,  however,  before 
three  shabbily  dressed  fellows  sprang  from  a 
thicket  by  the  roadside  and  leveling  their 
muskets,  commanded  him  to  halt.  Startled  as 
he  must  have  been,  Andre  behaved  with  great 
coolness,  and  observing,  a&  he  reined  in  his 
horse,  that  one  of  the  partjr  wore  a  Hessian 
coat,  he  inquired  if  they  were  supporters  "  of 
the  lower  (loyal)  party,"  and  was  told  that 
they  were.  Thereupon  he  announced  that  he 
was  a  British  officer  who  was  traveling  on  im- 
portant business  which  would  not  admit  of  a 
moment's  delay;  but  the  words  had  scarcely 
fallen  from  his  lips  when  he  was  informed 
that  the  men  were  Americans  and  that  he  was 
their  prisoner. 

Dangerous  as  the  situation  was,  Andre  did 
not  yet  despair  of  effecting  his  escape,  and 
feeling  certain  that  his  captors  must  be  ' '  Skin- 
ners," who  would  let  him  go  as  soon  as  they 

208 


A  DESPERATE    PERIL 

had  robbed  him  of  all  his  valuables,  he  showed 
them  Arnold's  pass  and  offered  them  his  watch 
and  purse  to  let  him  proceed  at  once.  Had  the 
men  been  "  Skinners  "  this  would  doubtless 


^..f" 


,**-? 


MONUMENT    MARKING    SPOT    WHERE     ANDRE    WAS    CAPTURED    NEAR 

TARRYTOWN,    N.    Y. 

(From  a  sketch  by  Jonathan  Ring.) 


have  satisfied  them,  but  being  loyal  Americans 
it  sounded  like  a  bribe  and  from  that  instant 
Andre's  fate  was  sealed,  for  they  straightway 
searched  him  and,  finding  the  papers  in  his 
shoes,  marched  him  to  the  nearest  outpost. 

209 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

Here  the  commander,  Colonel  Jameson,  ex- 
amined the  papers,  but  not  believing  that  Ar- 
nold could  have  anything  to  do  with  them,  he 
ordered  the  prisoner  taken  to  West  Point  and 
despatched  the  documents  to  Washington. 

Andre's  relief  at  this  turn  of  affairs  may 
well  be  imagined,  for  once  in  Arnold's  hands 
he  was  safe,  and  there  would  be  plenty  of  time 
to  escape  before  the  plot  was  exposed.  But, 
unfortunately  for  these  hopes,  another  officer 
now  arrived  on  the  scene.  This  was  Major 
Benjamin  Tallmadge,  a  graduate  of  Yale  and, 
strange  to  say,  a  classmate  of  Nathan  Hale, 
and  the  moment  he  read  the  papers  he  urged 
Colonel  Jameson  to  hold  Andre  and  give  no 
report  to  Arnold  until  further  orders  from 
Washington.  Jameson  partially  took  this  ad- 
vice, for  he  hurried  out  a  squad  of  cavalry 
who  overtook  Andre  and  his  escort  on  the  road 
and  ordered  them  to  halt  where  they  were,  but 
he  sent  a  despatch  to  Arnold  informing  him 
that  a  man  calling  himself  John  Anderson  had 
been  captured  carrying  suspicious  papers  in 
his  shoes. 

Meanwhile  the  other  messenger  with  the 
proofs  of  Arnold's  guilt  was  galloping  to  Hart- 
ford, and  had  Washington  stayed  there  as  long 

210 


A   DESPERATE    PERIL 

as  lie  had  intended  the  papers  would  have 
speedily  reached  his  hands.  He  had,  however, 
soon  learned  from  Rochambeau  that  the 
French  were  in  no  condition  to  join  in  the 
proposed  campaign  against  Clinton  and  that 
further  consultation  would  be  a  waste  of  time. 
Therefore,  as  Jameson's  messenger  was  hur- 
rying to  Hartford,  the  Commander-in-Chief 
was  traveling  in  the  opposite  direction,  and 
having  taken  different  roads  they  passed  each 
other  on  the  way.  Still,  Washington  was  ap- 
proaching West  Point  three  days  earlier  than 
he  was  expected,  and  when  he  reached  Fishkill 
on  September  24th,  he  stopped  at  the  very  inn 
where  Joshua  Smith  (Andre's  ex-guide)  was 
staying,  and  actually  had  a  conversation  with 
the  man.  The  next  day  he  moved  down  the 
river  early  and  stopped  with  Knox  to  inspect 
some  earthworks,  while  Hamilton  and  another 
officer  crossed  to  Arnold's  headquarters  at  the 
Robinson  House,  nearly  opposite  West  Point, 
to  advise  him  that  the  General  was  on  his  way 
to  breakfast  with  him. 

This  unwelcome  news  must  have  been  high- 
ly disturbing  to  the  traitor,  but  knowing  noth- 
ing of  Andre's  capture,  he  still  felt  that  his 
plans  were  certain  to  succeed,  for  Washington 

211 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

would  hardly  have  time  to  discover  the  de- 
fenseless condition  of  the  fortress  before  the 
British  attacked  as  this  event  was  scheduled 
for  that  very  day.  But  while  he  and  Mrs.  Ar- 
nold sat  at  the  breakfast  table  with  their 
guests,  momentarily  expecting  Washington 
and  Knox,  a  despatch-bearer  arrived  and 
handed  a  letter  to  Arnold.  It  was  Jameson's 
message  that  a  certain  John  Anderson  was  in 
his  hands. 

Arnold  was  talking  as  he  opened  the  letter, 
but  he  stopped  when  his  eyes  fell  on  its  con- 
tents, and  then  quietly  folding  it  and  put- 
ting it  in  his  pocket,  he  continued  his  sentence 
just  where  he  had  been  interrupted.  With  the 
same  cool  self-control  he  carelessly  observed 
that  he  was  summoned  to  West  Point  but 
would  be  back  directly,  and  bidding  his  guests 
excuse  him,  he  left  the  room.  Once  outside 
the  door,  however,  he  darted  upstairs,  told  his 
wife,  who  had  followed  him,  that  he  was  a  lost 
man,  laid  her  fainting  on  a  bed,  hurried  to  the 
water  front,  leaped  into  his  barge  and  ordered 
the  oarsmen  to  row  for  their  lives  down  the 
river,  where,  after  an  eighteen-mile  pull,  he 
found  the  Vulture  and  was  received  on  board 
to  tell  his  sorry  tale. 

212 


A   DESPERATE    PERIL 

Meanwhile  Washington  arrived  at  Ar- 
nold's headquarters  and,  learning  that  he  had 
been  called  to  West  Point,  immediately  turned 
to  follow  him.  At  the  fort,  however,  he  was 
informed  that  the  General  had  not  appeared, 
and  the  puzzled  Commander-in-Chief  once 
more  sought  him  at  his  residence.  Meantime 
the  despatch  rider,  who  had  journeyed  all  the 
way  to  Hartford  and  back,  had  dashed  up,  and 
Hamilton  held  the  proof  of  Arnold's  guilt  in 
his  hands  when  his  superior  again  approached 
the  house. 

One  glance  at  the  documents  was  sufficient 
to  disclose  the  terrible  truth.  But,  shocked 
and  grieved  as  he  was,  Washington  wasted  no 
time  in  idle  words.  The  situation  was  critical 
and  he  instantly  controlled  it.  A  sharp  order 
to  Hamilton  to  pursue  and  capture  Arnold; 
quick,  clear  commands  to  his  Aides  to  put  all 
officers  on  their  guard  against  a  surprise;  a 
swift,  calm  inspection  of  West  Point,  and 
an  instant  rearrangement  of  all  the  troops 
defending  it;  a  tense,  heartbroken  whisper, 
"  Whom  can  we  trust  now?  " — and  Wash- 
ington was  ready,  sword  in  hand,  for  all  the 
enemies  of  his  country. 

Four  days  later  Andre  was  tried  by  a  mi  li- 
213 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

tary  commission  and  sentenced  to  death  as  a 
spy,  Greene,  Lafayette,  Steuben,  and  other  dis- 
tinguished officers  acting  as  his  judges.  Great 
efforts  were  made  to  save  his  life,  but  the  fact 
that  he  had  been  found  within  the  American 
lines,  partially  disguised  and  bearing  infor- 
mation to  the  enemy,  made  a  defense  difficult. 
Washington  accordingly  refused  to  set  aside 
the  unanimous  verdict  of  the  court  and  the 
young  man  died  displaying  the  same  courage 
and  calmness  that  Nathan  Hale  had  displayed 
only  a  few  years  before.  To  his  worth  as  a 
man  and  a  soldier  the  Commander-in-  Chief 
paid  his  token  of  respect,  but  Arnold's  name 
he  never  willingly  allowed  to  cross  his  lips 
again. 


CHAPTER   XXVII 

THE  CAMPAIGN  AGAINST  YORKTOWN 

Shortly  after  Arnold  fled  to  the  British, 
the  first  cheering  news  which  had  been  re- 
ceived from  the  South  since  Cornwallis  had 
invaded  it  reached  Washington,  for  the  Ameri- 
cans achieved  a  considerable  success  at  the  bat- 
tle of  King's  Mountain,  North  Carolina  in  Oc- 
tober, 1780.  It  was  not  a  very  wonderful  vic- 
tory, but  it  proved  a  turning  point  in  the  war, 
for  Gates  having  retired,  Congress  authorized 
Washington  to  appoint  his  successor,  and  he 
immediately  selected  Nathanael  Greene,  send- 
ing him  all  the  troops  which  could  possibly  be 
spared  from  the  North.  This  was  the  reward 
for  which  Greene  had  been  patiently  waiting. 
Year  after  year  he  had  faithfully  labored  as 
Quartermaster-General  of  the  army,  a  most 
distasteful  and  tiresome  duty,  but  now  his 
chance  had  come  and  he  resolved  to  make  the 
most  of  it.    Indeed,  the  whole  situation  in  the 

215 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

South  began  to  change  almost  from  the  mo- 
ment he  arrived  upon  the  scene,  and  in  a 
masterly  campaign  of  less  than  four  months' 
duration  he  so  thoroughly  outmaneuvered 
his  opponents  that  early  in  the  Spring  of 
1781  Cornwallis  was  forced  from  the  Car- 
olinas  and  retired  to  try  his  fortunes  in  Vir- 
ginia. 

Meanwhile  Washington  had  been  continu- 
ing his  desperate  struggle  to  hold  the  army  to- 
gether on  the  Hudson.  It  was  a  wretchedly 
familiar  business,  but  he  kept  at  it  with  grim 
determination,  and  by  unceasing  exertions  he 
managed  to  instill  enough  life  and  energy  into 
Congress  to  keep  his  troops  in  the  field.  For  a 
time,  however,  it  seemed  as  though  the  end  had 
come,  for  so  badly  were  the  men  fed  and 
clothed,  that  some  of  the  Pennsylvania  troops 
actually  mutinied,  and  it  was  with  the  greatest 
difficulty  that  they  were  finally  persuaded  by 
the  State  officials  to  return  to  their  duties.  But 
this  dangerous  episode  had  the  effect  of  arous- 
ing Congress  to  the  necessity  of  affording  some 
relief,  and  when  another  mutiny  broke  out — 
this  time,  among  the  New  Jersey  troops — 
Washington  was  in  a  position  to  maintain  dis- 
cipline, and  he  did  it  with  such  promptness 

216 


CAMPAIGN   AGAINST   YORKTOWN 

and  severity  that  no  further  disturbances  oc- 
curred. 

Thus  the  winter  of  1781  passed  away,  and 
when  Spring  came,  with  the  news  that  the  Brit- 
ish were  overrunning  his  own  State,  burning 
and  plundering  almost  at  will,  the  Commander- 
in-Chief  was  sorely  tempted  to  go  to  the  res- 
cue, but  knowing  that  the  defense  of  the  Hud- 
son was  far  more  important  than  the  protec- 
tion of  Virginia,  he  remained  where  he  was. 
Even  when  he  heard  that  the  enemy  were  close 
to  Mount  Vernon,  and  he  expected  at  any  time 
to  receive  word  that  his  dearly  loved  home  had 
been  destroyed,  he  resisted  the  inclination  to 
help  his  own  people  at  the  expense  of  the  na- 
tion. Indeed,  when  he  learned  that  Mount 
Vernon  had  been  saved  by  one  of  his  relatives 
who  supplied  the  British  officers  with  provi- 
sions and  afforded  them  other  courtesies,  he 
wrote  an  indignant  letter  to  his  kinsman  de- 
claring that  he  would  rather  the  house  had 
been  burned  and  the  plantation  ruined  than 
that  any  representative  of  his  should  have 
shown  favor  to  the  enemy,  or  sought  their  pro- 
tection. The  fortunes  of  war  had  brought  the 
foe  to  his  gates  and  he  was  ready  and  willing  to 
share  the  misfortunes  of  his  fellow-country- 

217 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

men  without  claiming  or  desiring  any  priv- 
ileges which  were  not  extended  to  all  the 
people. 

For  a  time  the  British  were  practically  un- 
opposed in  Virginia,  but  when  the  traitor 
Arnold  was  sent  there,  Washington  ordered 
Lafayette  to  watch  and  check  him  as  far  as 
possible.  But  before  long,  Cornwallis  ap- 
peared with  reinforcements  and  the  young 
French  commander  could  do  but  little  for  sev- 
eral weeks  but  delay  the  movements  of  the 
enemy.  Even  when  he  was  joined  by  Wayne 
and  Steuben,  the  British  far  outnumbered 
him,  but  he  boldly  attacked  them  at  Green 
Springs,  and  although  his  little  army  was  re- 
pulsed, it  kept  at  the  enemy's  heels,  and  do 
what  he  would,  Cornwallis  could  not  shake  it 
off.  Washington  was  well  aware,  however, 
that  unless  something  was  done  to  call  the 
British  away  from  the  South  they  would  soon 
collect  a  force  which  would  sweep  the  whole 
country,  and  all  that  Greene  had  gained  would 
speedily  be  lost.  He  therefore  held  a  confer- 
ence with  Rochambeau  at  Wethersfield,  Con- 
necticut, toward  the  end  of  May,  1781,  and 
arranged  with  him  for  such  a  determined 
attack  upon  New  York  that  the  enemy  would 

218 


CAMPAIGN   AGAINST   YORKTOWN 

be  forced  to  withdraw  its  troops  from  the 
South,  and  Greene  would  be  able  to  reap  the 
fruits  of  his  victories. 

Here  again,  as  at  Brandy  wine  and  Ger- 
mantown,  Washington  was  not  attempting  to 
make  a  brilliant  stroke  which  would  win  ap- 
plause or  fame  for  himself  alone.  He  was 
willing  to  have  his  own  attack  fail  if  he  could 
relieve  the  pressure  on  another  part  of  his 
line.  He  believed  in  unselfish  team  work,  and 
never  once  did  he  attempt  to  score  a  personal 
triumph  at  the  expense  of  his  fellow-com- 
manders. The  success  of  any  attack  on  New 
York,  however,  depended  very  largely  upon 
the  assistance  of  the  French  fleet  under  the 
Count  de  Grasse,  which  was  then  in  the  West 
Indies,  and  Washington  and  Rochambeau 
joined  in  sending  its  commander  an  urgent 
request  to  bring  his  ships  North  and  blockade 
the  harbor,  while  their  troops  attacked  the  city 
from  the  land  side.  If  de  Grasse  would  not 
do  this,  Washington  begged  him  to  take  his 
ships  to  Virginia,  and  during  the  next  twelve 
weeks,  while  his  reply  was  being  anxiously 
awaited,  the  wisdom  of  this  latter  plan  became 
more  and  more  evident. 

To  be  ready  for  either  emergency  Rocham- 
219 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

beau  agreed  to  bring  his  troops  to  the  Hudson, 
and,  starting  from  Newport  on  June  9th,  he 
marched  his  men,  who  up  to  this  time  had 
been  of  no  practical  service,  through  Prov- 
idence, Hartford,  Farmington,  and  Bedford, 
to  North  Castle  and  Dobb's  Ferry,  where  he 
made  a  junction  with  the  Americans  by  about 
July  1st.  Anticipating  this,  Washington  or- 
dered a  small  force  from  each  army  to  advance 
and  attempt  to  surprise  the  outlying  British 
forts  near  King's  Bridge,  close  to  the  city. 
This  attack  failed,  but  it  served  to  alarm  Clin- 
ton, and  really  had  a  far  greater  effect  on  the 
campaign  than  anyone  then  imagined,  while 
the  armed  reconnoisances  and  similar  prepara- 
tions for  an  attack  which  followed  made  him 
still  more  apprehensive.  Meanwhile  the  com- 
bined French  and  American  forces  fell  back, 
and  by  July  6th  they  went  into  camp  near 
Dobb's  Ferry. 

Some  few  weeks  later  word  was  received 
from  Lafayette  that  Cornwallis  had  moved  to 
Yorktown,  on  the  York  River,  Virginia,  close 
to  Chesapeake  Bay,  and  almost  at  the  same 
moment  the  long-expected  despatch  arrived 
from  de  Grasse,  advising  Washington  that  he 
was  just  on  the  point  of  sailing  for  Chesapeake 

220 


CAMPAIGN  AGAINST   YORKTOWN 

Bay.  The  instant  lie  received  this  news  the 
American  commander  realized  that  his  chance 
had  come.  Cornwallis  had  evidently  brought 
his  army  to  Yorktown  that  it  might  cooperate 
with  a  British  fleet  in  the  Chesapeake,  and  by 
good  luck  de  Grasse  was  heading  directly  for 
this  very  spot.  A  bold,  swift  stroke  might 
now  end  the  war,  and  the  plan  which  Wash- 
ington immediately  put  in  operation  was  dar- 
ing to  a  really  perilous  degree. 

Up  to  this  point  all  the  movements  of  the 
French  and  Americans  had  convinced  Clinton 
that  an  attack  would  soon  be  made  against 
New  York.  Never  for  a  moment  did  he  imag- 
ine that  his  opponent  would  dare  leave  the 
Hudson  unguarded  and  throw  his  whole  army 
against  Cornwallis.  The  risk  of  losing  West 
Point  and  the  difficulty  of  covering  the  hun- 
dreds of  miles  that  lay  between  New  York  and 
Yorktown  seemed  to  forbid  any  such  maneu- 
ver. Nevertheless,  this  was  precisely  what 
Washington  intended  to  do,  and  within  a  few 
days  after  the  receipt  of  de  Grasse 's  message 
he  was  hurrying  southward  with  every  man  he 
could  possibly  spare. 

Secrecy  and  speed  were  essential  to  suc- 
cess, for  if  Clinton  discovered  what  was  hap- 

221 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

pening,  he  would  undoubtedly  try  to  throw  his 
army  between  Cornwallis  and  the  Americans, 
and  even  though  he  failed  in  stopping  them 
he  could  easily  delay  their  march  until  the 
British  force  at  Yorktown  had  time  to  escape. 
Washington,    therefore,    took    extraordinary 


ROCHAMBEAU's   HEADQUARTERS   NEAR   ARDSLEY,    N.    Y.,    AS   EXISTING 

IN    1909. 
(From  a  sketch  by  Jonathan  Ring.) 


care  to  conceal  his  plans,  not  only  from  his 
foes  but  also  from  his  friends.  Indeed, 
Rochambeau  was  the  only  officer  who  knew 
where  the  men  were  being  headed  as  they  hur- 
ried through  New  Jersey,  and  so  cleverly  was 
their  route  selected,  that  even  when  Clinton 
learned  of  their  march  he  still  believed  that 


999 


CAMPAIGN   AGAINST   YORKTOWN 

the  Americans,  having  failed  in  the  attempt 
on  his  rear  door  near  King's  Bridge,  were 
about  to  swing  around  and  try  to  get  in  at  the 
front  door  from  Staten  Island  or  Sandy  Hook. 

This  was  just  what  Washington  wanted 
him  to  think,  and  to  deceive  him  still  further, 
camp  kitchens  were  erected  along  the  expected 
line  of  march  and  the  troops  were  so  handled 
that  they  seemed  to  be  moving  straight  to  an 
attack  on  New  York.  But  at  the  proper  mo- 
ment they  were  suddenly  turned  southward  at 
a  pace  that  defied  pursuit,  and  before  the  true 
situation  dawned  on  the  British  commander 
they  were  almost  at  the  Delaware  River.  But 
though  he  had  by  this  time  acquired  a  fairly 
safe  lead,  Washington  did  not  slacken  his 
speed,  and  with  a  roar  of  cheers  from  the  now 
excited  populace,  the  dusty  columns  were  soon 
pouring  through  Philadelphia,  the  American 
commander  pushing  on  ahead  to  Chester,  and 
sending  back  word  that  de  Grasse  had  arrived 
in  Chesapeake  Bay  and  that  not  a  moment 
must  be  lost. 

Clinton  then  made  a  frantic  effort  to  save 
the  day  by  sending  Arnold  to  attack  some 
of  the  New  England  towns,  thinking  that  the 
American  commander  might  hurry  back  to 

223 


ON   THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

their  rescue.  But  Washington  was  first  and 
foremost  a  man  of  a  good,  hard  common  sense, 
and  he  knew  that  all  Arnold  could  accomplish 
would  be  the  destruction  of  a  few  defenseless 
towns,  and  to  let  Cornwallis  escape  in  order 
to  protect  them  did  not  appeal  to  his  practical 
mind  at  all.  He  therefore  paid  no  attention 
to  the  traitor's  movements,  but  bent  all  his 
efforts  on  speeding  his  army  southward.  At 
Chesapeake  Bay  an  exasperating  delay  oc- 
curred, for  there  were  not  sufficient  vessels  to 
transport  the  army  over  the  water,  and  for 
a  time  the  success  of  the  whole  expedition  was 
threatened.  But  Washington  was  in  no  mood 
to  be  blocked  by  obstacles  of  this  sort.  If  his 
troops  could  not  be  ferried  down  the  Bay, 
they  must  march  around  it,  and  march  many 
of  them  did,  their  General  obtaining  the  first 
glimpse  he  had  had  in  six  years  of  his  beloved 
Mount  Vernon  as  he  swept  by,  and  on  Sep- 
tember 28,  1781,  his  whole  force  was  in  front 
of  Yorktown,  with  success  fairly  within  its 
grasp. 

Meanwhile  de  Grasse's  fleet  had  fiercely 
assailed  a  British  squadron  which  had  been 
sent  to  the  rescue,  and  after  a  sharp  engage- 
ment the  French  had  been  able  to  return  to 

224 


CAMPAIGN   AGAINST   YORKTOWN 

the  Bay  while  the  British  vessels  were  ob- 
liged to  retire  to  New  York,  leaving  Corn- 
wallis  with  the  York  River  on  one  side  of  him, 
the  James  River  on  the  other,  and  the  Chesa- 
peake Bay  at  his  back,  but  no  ships  to  carry 
him  to  safety.  Only  one  chance  of  escape  now 
remained,  and  that  was  to  hurl  his  whole  army 
through  the  narrow  neck  of  land  immediately 
in  front  of  him  and  beat  a  hasty  retreat  to  the 
south.  But  Washington  had  anticipated  this 
desperate  move  by  positive  instructions  to  La- 
fayette and  acting  upon  them  the  young  Mar- 
quis rushed  a  body  of  French  troops  from  the 
fleet  into  the  gap,  and  the  arrival  of  the  Amer- 
ican army  completely  blocked  it. 

But,  though  the  enemy  was  now  in  his 
clutch,  Washington  lost  no  time  in  tightening 
his  hold,  for  de  Grasse  declared  that  his  orders 
would  not  allow  him  to  tarry  much  longer  in 
the  Chesapeake,  and  the  failure  of  the  other 
attempts  to  work  with  the  French  warned  him 
to  take  no  risks  on  this  occasion.  He  therefore 
instantly  set  the  troops  at  work  with  pickaxes 
and  shovels  throwing  up  intrenchments,  be- 
hind which  they  crept  nearer  and  nearer  the 
imprisoned  garrison,  and  he  kept  them  at  their 
tasks  night  and  day,  supervising  every  detail 

225 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

of  the  siege  and  organizing  the  labor  with 
such  method  that  not  a  second  of  time  nor  an 
ounce  of  strength  was  wasted. 

Finally,  on  October  14th — just  sixteen  days 
after  the  combined  armies  had  arrived  on  the 
scene — the  Commander-in-Chief  determined 
to  hurry  matters  still  further  by  carrying  two 
of  the  enemy's  outer  works  by  assault,  and 
Hamilton  was  assigned  to  lead  the  Americans 
and  Colonel  de  Deuxponts  the  French.  A  bril- 
liant charge  followed  and  Washington  and 
Rochambeau,  closely  watching  the  movement, 
saw  the  Americans  scale  one  of  the  redoubts 
and  capture  it  within  ten  minutes,  while  the 
French  soon  followed  with  equal  success. 
From  these  two  commanding  positions  a  per- 
fect storm  of  shot  and  shell  was  then  loosed 
against  the  British  fortifications,  but  still 
Cornwallis  would  not  yield.  Indeed,  he  made 
an  heroic  attempt  to  break  through  the  lines 
on  the  following  night,  and  actually  succeeded 
in  spiking  some  of  the  French  cannon  before 
he  was  driven  back;  and  again  on  the  next 
night  he  made  a  desperate  effort  to  escape  by 
water  only  to  be  foiled  by  a  terrific  storm.  By 
this  time,  however,  his  defenses  were  practi- 
cally battered  to  the  ground  and  the  town  be- 

226 


CAMPAIGN   AGAINST   YORKTOWN 

hind  them  was  rapidly  tumbling  to  pieces  be- 
neath the  fire  of  more  than  fifty  guns. 

In  the  face  of  this  terrific  bombardment 
further  resistance  was  useless,  and  at  ten 
o'clock  on  the  morning  of  October  17,  1781 — 
exactly  four  years  after  the  surrender  of  Bur- 
goyne — a  red-coated  drummer  boy  mounted 
one  of  the  crumbling  ramparts  and  beside  him 
appeared  an  officer  with  a  white  flag.  In- 
stantly the  firing  ceased  and  an  American  of- 
ficer approaching,  the  flag  bearer  was  blind- 
folded and  conducted  to  Washington.  The 
message  he  bore  was  a  proposition  for  sur- 
render and  a  request  that  hostilities  be  sus- 
pended for  twenty-four  hours.  But  to  this 
Washington  would  not  consent.  Two  hours 
was  all  he  would  grant  for  arranging  the  terms 
of  surrender.  To  this  Cornwallis  yielded,  but 
his  first  propositions  were  promptly  rejected 
by  Washington,  and  it  was  not  until  eleven 
at  night  that  all  the  details  were  finally  agreed 
upon,  and  Cornwallis,  with  over  eight  thou- 
sand officers  and  men,  became  prisoners  of 
war. 

Two  days  later  the  British  marched  from 
their  intrenchments,  their  bands  playing  a 
quaint  old  English  tune,  called  "  The  World 

227 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

Turned  Upside  Down,"  and,  passing  between 
the  French  and  American  troops  drawn  up  in 
line  to  receive  them,  laid  down  their  arms.  At 
the  head  of  the  victorious  columns  rode  Wash- 
ington, Hamilton,  Knox,  Steuben,  Lafayette, 
Rochambeau,  Lincoln,  and  many  other  officers, 
but  the  British  commander,  being  ill,  was  not 
present  in  person,  and  when  his  representa- 
tive, General  O'Hara,  tendered  his  superior's 
sword  to  Washington,  the  Commander-in- 
Chief  allowed  General  Lincoln,  who  had  once 
been  Cornwallis's  prisoner,  to  receive  it,  and 
that  officer,  merely  taking  it  in  his  hand  for  a 
moment,  instantly  returned  it. 

Meanwhile  horsemen  were  flying  in  all  di- 
rections with  the  joyful  tidings,  and  within  a 
week  the  whole  country  was  blazing  with  en- 
thusiasm, while  Washington  was  calmly  plan- 
ning to  finish  the  work  at  which  he  had  set  his 
hand. 


CHAPTER   XXVIII 

HOME  TBIUMPHS 

It  was  fortunate  that  Washington  lost  no 
time  in  compelling  Cornwallis  to  surrender, 
for  a  few  days  after  the  British  troops  laid 
down  their  arms,  Sir  Henry  Clinton  reached 
Chesapeake  Bay  with  strong  reinforcements, 
and  had  the  capitulation  not  already  occurred, 
it  is  possible  that  he  might  have  rescued  the 
besieged  garrison.  As  it  was,  he  speedily 
sailed  back  to  New  York,  and  Washington  im- 
mediately urged  de  Grasse  to  join  him  in  an 
attack  upon  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  and 
thus  end  the  campaign  with  the  capture  of  the 
only  other  important  British  stronghold  in 
the  South. 

But  the  reply  of  the  French  Admiral 
showed  that  the  Americans  were  lucky  to  have 
kept  his  fleet  as  long  as  they  had.  Indeed,  if 
the  siege  of  Yorktown  had  lasted  another  ten 
days,  it  is  probable  that  de  Grasse  would  have 

229 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

sailed  away  and  let  Cornwallis  escape.  At  all 
events,  lie  refused  to  finish  the  campaign  as 
Washington  suggested,  and  his  prompt  de- 
parture forced  the  American  commander  to 
abandon  his  well-laid  plans  for  further  vic- 
tories. There  was  nothing  to  be  gained, 
therefore,  by  retaining  the  army  in  Vir- 
ginia, and  the  American  troops  were  accord- 
ingly marched  back  to  the  Hudson,  while  the 
French  forces  under  Rochambeau  were  held 
to  await  further  orders. 

Meanwhile  Washington  had  been  sum- 
moned to  Eltham,  Virginia,  by  the  serious  ill- 
ness of  his  stepson,  Jack  Custis,  where  he  ar- 
rived only  a  short  time  before  the  young  man 
died,  leaving  a  wife  and  four  children.  His 
death  was  a  great  grief  to  Washington,  who 
had  always  regarded  him  as  his  own  son,  and 
this  sad  event  drove  all  thoughts  of  the  suc- 
cess at  Yorktown  from  his  mind.  Public 
duties,  however,  soon  called  him  away  and,  ar- 
ranging that  Mrs.  Washington  should  take  the 
two  youngest  Custis  children  to  Mount  Ver- 
non, he  made  a  brief  stay  at  his  old  home  and 
hurried  on  to  Philadelphia,  where  he  remained 
for  four  months  consulting  with  Congress  and 
preparing  another  plan  of  campaign. 

230 


HOME    TRIUMPHS 

But  no  new  campaign  was  destined  to  be 
fought,  for  within  six  months  word  was  re- 
ceived from  England  that  the  British  Parlia- 
ment was  inclined  to  make  peace  and  acknowl- 
edge the  independence  of  America,  and  that 
the  King's  ministers  who  desired  to  continue 
the  war  would  soon  resign  their  posts.  Sin- 
cerely as  he  hoped  for  such  a  result,  Washing- 
ton knew  that  the  best  way  to  accomplish  it 
was  to  prove  that  America  was  well  prepared 
for  war,  and  with  that  idea  he  made  every  ef- 
fort to  keep  his  army  ready  for  active  service. 
But  by  this  time  the  troops,  who  had  received 
no  pay  for  many  a  long  month,  were  beginning 
to  suspect  that  they  would  never  obtain  what 
was  due  them  if  the  war  closed,  and  with  every 
sign  of  approaching  peace  their  discontent 
deepened.  Washington  did  his  best  to  check 
this  growing  dissatisfaction,  assuring  the  sol- 
diers that  Congress  would  certainly  provide 
for  the  payment  of  all  their  just  claims,  but 
in  May,  1782,  he  received  a  most  astonishing 
letter  which  proved  that  the  officers  as  well  as 
the  men  were  in  a  dangerous  mood  and  that 
the  situation  was  altogether  far  more  serious 
than  he  had  supposed. 

This  letter,  which  was  written  by  Colonel 
231 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

Lewis  Nicola,  a  trusted  officer  and  friend,  ad- 
vised him  that  the  army  was  thoroughly  dis- 
gusted with  Congress  and  the  existing  form  of 
government  and  that  a  king  was  needed  in 
America,  and  that  that  king  must  be  the  Com- 
mander-in-Chief. Washington  was  at  his 
headquarters  at  Newburg  when  he  received 
this  remarkable  document,  and  he  immediately 
wrote  the  following  reply : 

* i  Sir  :  With  a  mixture  of  great  surprise  and 
astonishment  I  have  read  .  .  .  the  sentiments 
you  have  submitted.  Be  assured,  Sir,  no  occur- 
rence in  the  course  of  the  war  has  given  me 
more  painful  sensations.  .  .  .  For  the  present 
the  communication  of  them  will  rest  in  my  own 
bosom  unless  some  further  agitation  of  the 
matter  shall  make  a  disclosure  necessary.  I  am 
much  at  a  loss  to  conceive  what  part  of  my  con- 
duct could  have  given  encouragement  to  an  ad- 
dress which  to  me  seems  big  with  the  greatest 
mischiefs,  that  can  befall  my  country.  If  I 
am  not  deceived  in  the  knowledge  of  myself 
you  could  not  have  found  a  person  to  whom 
your  schemes  are  more  disagreeable.  .  .  .  Let 
me  conjure  you,  then,  if  you  have  any  regard 
for  your  country,   concern   for  yourself  or 

232 


HOME    TRIUMPHS 

posterity,  or  respect  for  me,  to  banish  these 
thoughts  from  your  mind  and  never  communi- 
cate, as  from  yourself  or  anyone  else,  a  senti- 
ment of  the  like  nature." 

This  stern,  quiet,  and  dignified  response 
instantly  disposed  of  the  offensive  proposition 
and  no  other  suggestion  of  making  Washing- 
ton a  king  was  ever  heard  of  again.  Never- 
theless, the  restlessness  of  the  army  continued 
to  increase,  and  ten  months  after  Nicola's  let- 
ter was  written  a  meeting  of  almost  all  the 
prominent  officers  in  the  army  was  called  to 
agree  upon  some  means  of  forcing  Congress  to 
terms.  But  again  Washington  interposed,  and 
summoning  the  officers,  persuaded  them  to 
wait  patiently  and  trust  their  fellow-country- 
men to  see  that  they  received  fair  treatment. 
Probably  no  one  else  could  have  prevented 
a  disastrous  clash  between  Congress  and  the 
army  at  this  crisis.  Had  he  been  a  selfish  man, 
who  desired  to  make  himself  the  supreme 
power  in  the  land,  he  needed  only  to  have 
spoken  the  word  and  his  troops  would  have 
swept  him  into  any  place  of  authority  he  de- 
sired. No  force  existed  in  the  country  which 
could  have  opposed  the  army,  and  the  people, 

233 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

wearied  of  the  war  and  disgusted  with  the 
existing  government,  would  undoubtedly  have 
welcomed  such  a  ruler  as  the  Commander-in- 
Chief. 

Thus  the  destiny  of  the  country  was  ab- 
solutely in  Washington's  hands,  and  he  knew 
that  if  he  did  not  take  advantage  of  the  situa- 
tion there  was  grave  danger  that  some  other 
less  conscientious  person  might  do  so.  But  it 
was  not  to  gratify  his  own  ambition  or  to  ad- 
vance the  interests  of  any  other  individual 
that  he  had  unsheathed  his  sword.  He  had 
battled  to  win  freedom  for  America  and  to 
make  it  a  self-governing  nation,  and  he  in- 
tended to  fight  with  this  purpose  to  the  end. 
"  I  have  grown  gray  in  your  service,"  he  told 
his  officers  when  they  had  assembled  before 
him ;  and  then  with  great  force  and  dignity  he 
denounced  all  the  schemes  for  advancing  the 
interest  of  the  army  at  the  expense  of  the  coun- 
try as  unworthy  of  men  who  had  imperiled 
their  lives  and  liberties  in  a  great  cause,  and 
as  he  closed  with  a  touching  appeal  to  their 
honor  and  patriotism,  many  of  his  hearers  are 
said  to  have  turned  away  to  hide  their  tears. 

It  is  usual  to  think  of  Washington  as  a 
great  and  successful  military  leader,  who  in- 

234 


HOME    TRIUMPHS 

spired  his  soldiers  and  upheld  the  cause  of 
freedom  by  a  series  of  splendid  victories  in 
the  field.  But  as  a  matter  of  fact,  he  achieved 
only  four  notable  successes  during  all  the 
seven  years  of  the  Revolution;  namely,  at 
Boston,  Trenton,  Princeton,  and  Yorktown. 
He  had  fought  a  losing,  or  at  least  an  uphill 
fight  almost  from  the  very  outset  of  his  career ; 
he  had  been  defeated  again  and  again ;  he  had 
repeatedly  sacrificed  his  own  chances  of  suc- 
cess for  the  benefit  of  others ;  he  had  remained 
inactive  for  months,  and  even  years,  when 
others  were  impatient  for  rash  enterprises, 
and  his  campaigns  as  a  whole  had  displayed 
far  more  caution  than  brilliancy.  Assuredly 
it  was  not  by  his  military  talents  alone,  or 
even  largely,  that  Washington  commanded  the 
hearts  and  minds  of  men.  But  from  the  mo- 
ment he  announced  his  intention  of  serving  the 
country  without  pay  or  reward  of  any  kind, 
he  had  devoted  himself  unselfishly  to  the  pub- 
lic service,  with  the  one  idea  of  making  the 
United  States  a  nation  worthy  of  the  name, 
and  all  who  came  in  contact  with  him  knew 
that  he  had  no  other  end  in  view. 

The  man  who  is  really  working  for  others 
and  not  for  himself  is  easily  recognized.  There 

235 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

are  very  few  such  men,  but  their  reward  is  the 
confidence  of  a  whole  people,  and  this  Wash- 
ington received.  Men  believed  in  him;  they 
trusted  his  word;  they  relied  on  his  honor; 
they  saw  he  had  no  thought  of  self.  When 
' '  wild  tongues  were  loosed  ' '  he  was  silent  and 


wSafc*.. 


WASHINGTON  S    HEADQUARTERS    AT    NEWBURG,    N.    Y.,    AS    EXISTING 

IN    1909. 
(From  a  sketch  by  Jonathan  Ring.) 


thought  before  he  spoke.  But  having  thought, 
he  was  not  afraid  to  voice  his  opinion,  though 
all  the  world  was  arrayed  against  him,  and 
when  the  group  of  determined  officers  yielded 
to  the  wishes  of  their  chief  at  Newburg  on 
March  15,  1783,  Washington  achieved  what 
was  perhaps  the  greatest  triumph  of  his  life. 

236 


HOME    TRIUMPHS 

Within  ten  days  of  this  momentous  meeting 
tidings  arrived  that  a  general  treaty  of  peace 
had  been  signed,  bringing  the  war  to  an  end, 
and  the  proclamation  by  which  this  joyous 
news  was  announced  to  the  army  was  pub- 
lished on  April  19,  1783,  exactly  eight  years 
after  the  battle  of  Lexington. 

Washington  soon  commenced  negotiations 
with  Sir  Guy  Carleton,  who  had  succeeded  Sir 
Henry  Clinton  as  commander,  at  New  York, 
for  the  surrender  of  that  city,  and  prepara- 
tions were  begun  for  disbanding  the  American 
army.  Indeed,  the  soldiers  were  gradually  re- 
turning to  their  homes  during  the  whole  of  the 
summer  of  1783,  and  by  the  time  the  British 
were  ready  to  leave  New  York  only  a  handful 
of  American  troops  remained  under  arms.  A 
few  companies  of  infantry,  cavalry,  and  artil- 
lery were  still  in  service,  however,  and  about 
November  20th  Washington  moved  down 
from  West  Point  to  Harlem  and  prepared  to 
take  possession  of  the  city  from  which  he  had 
retreated  seven  years  earlier.  The  rear  guard 
of  the  British  began  retiring  to  Staten  Island 
on  November  25,  1783,  and  on  the  same  day 
the  representatives  of  the  Continental  army 
entered  the  city  in  triumph,  passing  down  the 

237 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

Bowery  to  Wall  Street  and  through  that  his- 
toric highway  to  Broadway,  where  they  halted 
near  Trinity  Church.     Washington  and  his 


"THE  LONG  ROOM"  IN  PRAUNCES'S  TAVERN,  NEW  YORK  CITY,  WHERE 

WASHINGTON    BADE    FAREWELL   TO    HIS    OFFICERS,    AS    EXISTING 

IN    1909. 

(From  a  sketch  by  Jonathan  Ring.) 


staff  soon  followed,  and  that  night  a  great  ban- 
quet was  given  in  his  honor. 

Nine  days  later  a  distinguished  group  of 
officers  gathered  in  Fraunces's  Tavern  to  bid 
farewell  to  their  chief.  Around  "  the  long 
room  "  in  that  historic  inn,  which  still  remains 
much  as  it  then  was,  stood  many  of  the  men 
who  had  fought  and  suffered  with  him  during 

238 


HOME    TRIUMPHS 

all  his  hard  campaigns.  It  was  a  scene  which 
might  have  affected  any  man  to  tears  and 
Washington  was  not  ashamed  to  show  his  feel- 
ing. Face  to  face  with  those  who  had  devotedly 
served  him  year  after  year  in  defense  of  the 
country,  and  with  memories  of  their  friend- 
ship and  loyalty  crowding  upon  him,  he  stood 
silent  for  a  while  not  daring  to  trust  himself 
to  words.  At  last,  mastering  his  emotion  and 
speaking  quietly  and  simply,  but  with  deep 
feeling,  he  thanked  his  comrades  for  their 
support,  congratulated  the  country  on  its  suc- 
cess, and  then  taking  each  man  by  the  hand, 
bade  him  an  affectionate  adieu.  From  the 
tavern  all  the  officers  accompanied  him  to  the 
barge  which  awaited  him  at  the  river  front, 
and  as  he  stepped  on  board  and  lifted  his  hat 
in  answer  to  their  silent  salute,  Washington's 
military  career  practically  ended. 

At  Philadelphia  he  stopped  to  settle  his 
accounts  with  the  Government,  which  were 
easily  adjusted,  for  he  had  kept  every  item  of 
his  expenses  with  the  same  care  and  accuracy 
that  he  had  bestowed  on  his  private  affairs  dur- 
ing his  farming  days.  Nevertheless,  for  much 
that  he  paid  from  his  own  pocket  during  the 
war  he  received  no  return,  and  he  was  com* 

239 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

paratively  a  poor  man  when  he  again  turned 
his  face  homeward.  A  few  days  later  he  ar- 
rived at  Annapolis  where  Congress  was  in 
session,  and  notifying  it  that  he  was  ready  to 
resign  his  commission,  appeared  before  that 
body  at  noon  on  December  23,  1783. 

Nothing  could  be  more  simple  than  the  lit- 
tle ceremony  which  followed,  but  it  would  be 
difficult  to  imagine  a  more  dignified  or  im- 
pressive scene.  Eight  years  earlier  he  had  ac- 
cepted the  command  of  the  army  with  a  few 
modest  words,  making  no  promises  save  that 
he  would  do  his  best;  and  now  at  the  height 
of  his  triumph  he  came  to  return  the  trust 
committed  to  his  charge  in  the  same  modest 
fashion  in  which  he  had  accepted  it.  No  dis- 
play of  any  kind  marked  his  entrance  to  the 
Hall  of  Congress.  A  messenger  announced 
his  approach  and  he  entered  the  room  attired 
in  full  uniform,  but  attended  by  only  two 
Aides,  and,  walking  to  the  front  of  the  cham- 
ber, seated  himself  in  full  view  of  the  audience, 
with  an  Aide  standing  on  either  side. 

Before  him,  on  the  floor  of  the  chamber, 
sat  a  company  of  twenty  gentlemen  wearing 
their  hats  according  to  the  custom  of  the  Con- 
gress at  that  time,  and  behind  them  and  in  the 

240 


HOME    TRIUMPHS 

gallery  stood  a  mass  of  spectators  maintain- 
ing a  dignified  and  impressive  silence. 

A  pause  followed,  and  then  the  presiding 
officer  turned  to  the  man  upon  whom  all  eyes 
were  centered  and  advised  him  that  the  United 
States  in  Congress  assembled  were  prepared 
to  receive  his  communications.  Thereupon  he 
rose,  and  as  he  did  so  all  the  officials  raised 
their  hats.  No  applause  or  demonstration  of 
any  kind,  save  this,  greeted  him,  and  the  few 
simple  words  he  uttered  could  be  plainly  heard 
in  every  part  of  the  crowded  chamber.  Un- 
affectedly congratulating  the  assembled  com- 
pany on  the  successful  termination  of  the  war, 
he  craved  the  indulgence  of  retiring  from  the 
service  of  the  country,  and  commending  his 
officers  and  men  to  the  favor  of  Congress,  and 
"  the  interests  of  our  dearest  country  to  the 
protection  of  Almighty  God,"  he  resigned 
"  with  satisfaction  the  appointment  which  he 
had  accepted  with  diffidence." 

A  proper  response  was  made  by  the  presid- 
ing official,  and  a  few  moments  later  Washing- 
ton left  the  room  a  private  citizen,  and  as  he 
passed  down  the  aisle  between  the  seated  rep- 
resentatives every  official  head  was  once  more 
bared. 

241 


CHAPTER   XXIX 

PEACE   AND   PUBLIC   SERVICE 

It  was  Christmas  Eve,  1783,  when  Wash- 
ington arrived  at  Mount  Vernon,  and  a  hap- 
pier welcome  no  man  ever  knew.  Compared 
to  the  fact  that  he  was  at  home  once  more,  sur- 
rounded by  his  loved  ones,  all  the  honors  which 
he  had  won  during  his  absence  seemed  as  noth- 
ing in  his  eyes.  This  was  the  one  event  to 
which  he  had  longingly  looked  forward,  for 
more  than  eight  years,  and  to  feel  that  he  was 
free  again  to  renew  the  life  which  he  had  left 
at  the  call  of  duty  filled  him  with  unspeak- 
able joy. 

Most  men  love  their  homes,  but  Washing- 
ton fairly  adored  his.  He  knew  every  tree  and 
bypath — almost  every  stick  and  stone  on  the 
place,  and  all  the  friendly,  familiar  objects 
gave  him  a  sense  of  peace  and  security  such 
as  he  had  not  known  for  many  a  weary  day. 
In  some  respects  the  plantation  had  suffered 

242 


PEACE  AND  PUBLIC  SERVICE 

during  the  war,  for  there  had  been  neither  the 
men  nor  the  money  to  keep  the  buildings  and 
the  fields  in  good  condition ;  but  the  cozy  home- 
stead still  remained  stanch  and  comfortable, 
the  crackle  of  a  cheery  fire  and  the  welcome 
of  his  wife  and  adopted  grandchildren  awaited 
him,  and  Washington  was  deeply  thankful  and 
content. 

For  a  time  he  seems  to  have  been  satisfied 
simply  to  wander  about  the  place,  steeping 
himself  in  the  restful  quiet  of  the  scene,  watch- 
ing the  broad,  peaceful  river  dotted  with  white 
sails,  riding  at  large  over  the  wide  fields  and 
beneath  the  great  trees,  chatting  with  Brad- 
dock's  old  orderly  Bishop,  who  had  been  left  in 
a  position  of  some  responsibility  during  the 
Revolution;  visiting  his  kennels  and  stables 
and  the  negro  quarters — renewing  his  ac- 
quaintance with  every  well-remembered  nook 
and  corner.  iWhat  a  relief  the  silence  and  se- 
clusion must  have  afforded  him  after  the  fret- 
ful turmoil  of  the  Revolution,  those  who  have 
visited  Mount  Vernon  can  readily  understand. 
It  lies  there  to-day  much  as  he  saw  it  then — a 
spot  freed  from  all  contact  with  the  outside 
world — a  refuge  and  haven  from  care — a  hal- 
lowed acreage  to  dream  and  think  in,  as  placid 

243 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

and  calm  and  dignified  as  the  splendid,  silent 
river  flowing  beneath  its  peaceful  slopes. 

During  the  first  month  after  his  return 
Washington  wrote  but  few  letters,  but  every 
mail  brought  a  mass  of  correspondence  which 
called  for  a  reply,  and  among  the  earliest  com- 
munications was  one  from  his  old  fencing  mas- 
ter, Van  Braam,  who,  much  against  his  will, 
had  been  forced  to  serve  in  a  British  regiment 
and  now  wrote  giving  an  account  of  his  ad- 
ventures. Numerous  other  people  wrote  ask- 
ing his  advice  or  assistance  on  all  sorts  of  sub- 
jects, and  had  he  attempted  to  answer  them  all 
he  would  have  had  very  little  time  for  anything 
else.  Even  as  it  was,  two  large  volumes  could 
be  filled  with  his  replies,  and  during  the  ex- 
ceptionally cold  winter  that  followed  his  home- 
coming he  was  so  busily  employed  at  this  task 
that  in  a  large  measure  he  neglected  his  own 
affairs. 

By  the  Summer,  however,  he  began  to  im- 
prove his  property,  and  before  long  he  had 
entirely  resumed  his  life  as  a  planter,  giving 
personal  attention  to  his  crops,  superintend- 
ing new  buildings  and  beautifying  his  grounds 
with  the  same  care  he  had  bestowed  on  them 
before  the  war.    During  the  next  Spring  he 

244 


WASHINGTON   AT  MOUNT  VERNON   AFTER  THE   REVOLUTION. 


PEACE  AND  PUBLIC   SERVICE 

laid  out  the  serpentine  road  and  planted  many 
of  Mount  Vernon's  finest  trees,  and  in  his 
diary,  which  still  exists,  there  are  entries  show- 
ing the  transplanting  of  lilacs  to  the  north 
garden  gate,  the  moving  of  sassafras,  dogwood 
and  red-bud  trees  to  the  shrubbery  on  the  grass 
plot,  the  placing  of  mulberries,  maples,  black 
gums,  poplars,  and  other  trees  near  the  walks, 
and  there  many  of  them  remain  to-day,  living 
witnesses  of  his  presence  and  care. 

It  was  no  feeble,  white-headed  old  gentle- 
man who  threw  himself  heart  and  soul  into  this 
work,  for  both  physically  and  mentally  Wash- 
ington was  at  this  time  in  the  prime  of  life. 
Winter  and  summer  he  rose  at  dawn,  read  or 
wrote  till  seven,  breakfasted,  and  then  mount- 
ing his  horse  rode  over  his  plantations,  sel- 
dom covering  less  than  ten  and  often  thirty 
miles  a  day.  Clear-eyed,  ruddy-complexioned, 
straight  as  an  arrow,  sitting  his  saddle  with  a 
grip  of  knee  which  made  horse  and  rider  one, 
he  was  the  picture  of  health  and  vigor  as  he 
made  his  daily  tours  of  inspection.  On  these 
occasions  his  usual  costume  was  a  plain  blue 
or  gray  cloth  coat,  cassimere  waistcoat,  black 
breeches  and  boots ;  but  when  there  was  more 
active  work  to  be  done  he  did  not  hesitate  to 

245 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

lay  aside  his  coat  and  labor  with  his  workmen, 
and  there  were  few  whose  strength  could  vie 
with  his.  Indeed,  during  the  laying  out  of  the 
new  fields  and  remodeling  of  the  grounds  he 
had  to  resort  to  his  surveying  again,  and  day 
after  day  he  was  busy  with  his  instruments, 
Billy,  his  old  body-servant,  serving  as  one  of 
the  chainmen.  Billy  was  a  negro  slave,  and 
there  were  many  other  slaves  on  the  planta- 
tions, but  Washington  had  come  to  hate 
slavery,  and  in  one  of  his  letters  dated  at  this 
period  he  wrote:  "  I  never  mean,  unless  some 
particular  circumstances  should  compel  me  to 
it,  to  possess  another  slave  by  purchase,  it  be- 
ing among  my  first  wishes  to  see  some  plan 
adopted  by  which  slavery  in  this  country  may 
be  abolished  by  law."  Again  eleven  years 
later  he  wrote :  i '  I  wish  from  my  soul  that  the 
Legislature  of  this  State  could  see  the  policy 
of  a  gradual  abolition  of  slavery.  It  might 
prevent  much  future  mischief." 

Thus,  even  then,  Washington  was  stretch- 
ing out  a  hand  to  Lincoln. 

The  slave  question  was  not  in  those  days 
an  important  topic  of  conversation,  but  Wash- 
ington's opinions  on  other  subjects  were 
eagerly  sought  and  widely  quoted.     Visitors 

246 


PEACE  AND  PUBLIC  SERVICE 

from  all  parts  of  the  country  and  many  from 
abroad  kept  dropping  in  at  Mount  Vernon 
almost  every  day,  and  much  that  the  host  said 
and  everything  he  wrote  soon  found  its  way  to 
the  public.  Many  of  his  guests  were  com- 
parative strangers  to  Washington,  but  Vir- 
ginian hospitality  demanded  that  all  who 
called  be  asked  to  stay  the  night,  so  the  house 
was  full  to  overflowing  every  day  and  the  entry 
in  his  diary  of  June  30,  1785,  records  that 
Washington  and  his  wife  dined  alone  that 
day  for  the  first  time  in  eighteen  months.  But 
not  all  the  visitors  at  Mount  Vernon  were 
chance  or  passing  acquaintances.  Lafayette 
came  on  two  occasions,  staying  each  time  for 
a  week  or  more,  and  James  Madison,  James 
Monroe,  Gouverneur  Morris,  Patrick  Henry, 
Richard  Henry  Lee,  George  Mason,  "  Light 
Horse  Harry  "  Lee,  and  many  other  famous 
Americans  were  frequently  numbered  among 
the  welcome  guests. 

It  was  largely  through  those  men  and  more 
particularly  through  his  correspondence  that 
Washington  was  kept  in  touch  with  the  con- 
dition of  the  country,  and  it  was  with  keen 
regret  that  he  saw  the  Government  of  the 
United  States  growing  weaker  every  day.    The 

247 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

mere  fact  that  the  various  States  had  called 
themselves  "  United  "  had  not  made  them 
so.  Indeed,  they  were  almost  completely  dis- 
united, each  one  working  for  itself  with  no 
more  interest  in  the  others  than  if  each  had 
been  a  separate  nation.  In  other  words,  Amer- 
ica was  not  becoming  a  nation,  but  a  mere 
collection  of  little  States  without  power  or  dig- 
nity, or  even  self-respect.  Against  this  ten- 
dency Washington  protested  on  every  possible 
occasion,  freely  expressing  his  opinion  and 
urging  the  leading  men  of  the  country  to  use 
their  influence  to  bind  the  States  together  into 
a  respectable  nation  which  might  deserve  and 
win  success.  As  a  General  he  had  shown  the 
value  of  team  play,  and  now,  when  he  insisted 
that  united  action  on  the  part  of  all  the  States 
was  essential  to  the  formation  of  any  govern- 
ment worthy  of  the  name,  his  words  reached 
more  people  and  carried  more  weight  than 
those  of  any  other  man  in  the  land. 

Therefore,  when  Congress  directed  that 
representatives  from  each  of  the  States  should 
assemble  in  Philadelphia  in  May,  1787,  and 
try  to  form  a  national  constitution,  it  was  nat- 
ural that  Virginia  should  have  chosen  him  as 
one  of  her  delegates.     But  Washington  had 

248 


PEACE  AND   PUBLIC   SERVICE 

taken  no  active  part  in  the  politics  of  the  coun- 
try since  his  retirement  and  he  had  no  desire 
to  re-enter  public  life.  His  ambition  was  to 
succeed  as  a  planter,  and  he  had  only  just  be- 
gun to  restore  to  Mount  Vernon  something  of 
its  former  prestige.  He  therefore  hesitated  to 
undertake  any  duties  which  threatened  to  in- 
terfere with  this,  and  at  first  he  declined  to 
represent  Virginia  at  the  coming  convention; 
but  being  persuaded  that  he  had  no  right  to 
refuse  his  aid  after  having  constantly  urged 
the  formation  of  a  strong  central  government, 
he  finally  consented  to  act,  and  set  out  for 
Philadelphia  on  the  9th  of  May,  1787. 

The  prospects  of  accomplishing  anything 
useful  were  not  very  cheerful  when  he  first 
arrived  upon  the  scene,  for  only  a  handful  of 
delegates  appeared  on  the  day  appointed  for 
opening  the  proceedings,  and  almost  two  weeks 
elapsed  before  sufficient  States  were  repre- 
sented to  permit  the  convention  to  be  held. 
On  May  25th,  however,  Washington  found 
himself  unanimously  elected  as  the  presiding 
officer,  and  for  the  next  four  months  he  was 
almost  exclusively  occupied  with  the  business 
of  framing  the  Constitution.  Every  line  and 
almost  every  word  in  this  important  document 

249 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

was  discussed  at  great  length,  but  Washington 
as  chairman  of  the  meetings  seldom  took  any 
part  in  the  debates.  Nevertheless,  his  opinion 
had  great  weight  with  the  other  representa- 
tives who  sought  his  advice  in  and  out  of  the 
State  House  where  the  sessions  were  held,  and 
without  his  personal  influence  it  is  doubtful 
if  any  agreement  would  have  been  reached. 

Meanwhile  he  relieved  the  tedium  of  the 
work,  which  required  his  presence  from  five  to 
seven  hours  a  day,  by  running  out  to  Valley 
Forge,  not  to  sentimentalize  over  the  scene  of 
his  old  encampment,  but  to  get  some  trout  fish- 
ing in  the  neighboring  streams;  and  he  like- 
wise managed  to  take  a  ftying  trip  to  Trenton 
where  he  had  once  made  an  historic  catch,  but 
where  he  now  tried  to  catch  perch  "  not  very 
successfully,"  but  later  "  with  more  success." 

Finally,  on  September  17,  1787,  the  Con- 
stitution was  accepted  by  the  representatives 
of  eleven  out  of  the  thirteen  States,  and  Wash- 
ington, forwarding  the  document  to  Congress, 
hastened  back  to  the  delights  of  Mount 
Vernon.  The  Constitution  did  not  in  every 
respect  meet  with  his  approval,  but  he  firmly 
believed  that  it  offered  the  best  scheme  of  gov- 
ernment that  was  possible  at  the  moment,  and 

250 


PEACE  AND  PUBLIC  SERVICE 

that  if  the  various  States  agreed  to  abide  by 
it,  there  was  every  prospect  of  building  up  a 
prosperous  and  powerful  nation.  "I  never 
saw  him  so  keen  for  anything  in  his  life  as  he 
is  for  the  adoption  of  the  new  scheme  of  gov- 
ernment, ' '  wrote  one  of  his  friends  to  Thomas 
Jefferson,  but  in  the  fierce  struggle  which  at 
once  took  place  in  all  the  States  for  and 
against  the  Constitution  he  took  little  or  no 
part,  and  only  echoes  of  the  contest  reached 
him  in  the  shelter  of  Mount  Vernon. 

Here  he  worked  and  planned  and  played 
with  all  his  accustomed  zest,  riding  over  the 
plantations,  training  a  new  and  very  wild  pack 
of  hounds  which  Lafayette  had  sent  him,  fish- 
ing and  superintending  the  netting  of  shad  in 
the  river,  where  as  many  as  three  hundred 
were  frequently  caught  in  one  haul;  building 
a  new  barn  along  lines  suggested  to  him  by 
the  famous  English  authority  on  agriculture, 
Arthur  Young,  attending  the  local  races  and 
the  theater,  and  generally  enjoying  himself  as 
only  a  hard-working,  healthy,  active  man  can. 
Those  who  imagine  Washington  as  a  solemn, 
slow-moving,  statuesque  human  being,  would 
do  well  to  read  his  diaries  and  correspondence 
at  this  time,  which  show  him  as  a  man  of  ac- 

251 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

tion,  brimful  of  life  and  energy — the  great 
prototype  of  the  millions  whose  enterprise  and 
enthusiasm  are  continuing  to  build  up  Amer- 
ica. 

On  June  9,  1788,  a  strange  little  vessel 
sailed  into   the   Potomac   and   anchored   off 


HUNTING    HORN    PRESENTED    TO    WASHINGTON    BY    LAFAYETTE. 
(Drawn  from  the  original  at  Mount  Vernon.) 

Mount  Vernon.  It  was  only  about  fifteen 
feet  in  length,  but  it  was  completely  equipped 
as  a  full-rigged  ship,  with  masts  and  cross- 
trees  and  sails,  and  it  bore  the  name  Feder- 
alist, the  name  by  which  those  who  favored 
the  Constitution  were  known.  This  toy  vessel 
which  had  been  sent  to  Washington  by  the 

252 


PEACE  AND   PUBLIC   SERVICE 

merchants  of  Baltimore  announced  to  him 
Maryland's  acceptance  of  the  Constitution, 
and  the  arrival  of  the  tiny  craft  served  to 
bring  home  the  fact  that  the  people  through- 
out the  country  had  only  one  man  in  mind 
for  the  head  of  the  nation  when  they  accepted 
the  Constitution  creating  the  office  of  Presi- 
dent. Yet  Washington  was  unwilling  to  think 
of  entering  public  life  again.  "  The  first  wish 
of  my  soul  is  to  spend  the  evening  of  my  life 
as  a  private  citizen  on  my  farm,"  he  wrote 
one  of  his  friends.  But  Hamilton,  and  other 
leading  men  of  the  country,  were  insistent  that 
he  lay  aside  his  personal  wishes  in  response  to 
the  general  call  of  the  country,  and  on  April  6, 
1789,  when  the  votes  of  the  electors  were 
counted  in  New  York,  it  was  found  that  every 
ballot  had  been  cast  in  his  favor. 

Eight  days  later,  Charles  Thomson,  the 
aged  Secretary  of  Congress,  rode  up  the  broad 
driveway  of  Mount  Vernon  and,  being  ushered 
into  the  reception  room,  delivered  into  Wash- 
ington's hands  the  official  letter  notifying 
him  that  he  had  been  unanimously  elected  as 
the  first  President  of  the  United  States.  Two 
days  later  he  set  forth  on  his  journey  to  New 
York,  in  company  with  Mr.   Thomson  ancj 

253 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

Colonel  Humphreys,  and  his  diary  for  that 
day  records  as  follows:  " About  ten  o'clock 
I  bade  adieu  to  Mount  Vernon,  to  private  life, 
and  to  domestic  felicity  .  .  .  with  the  best 
disposition  to  render  service  to  my  country  in 
obedience  to  its  call,  but  with  less  hope  of 
answering  its  expectations."  "  My  move- 
ments to  the  chair  of  government  will  be  ac- 
companied by  feelings  not  unlike  those  of  a 
culprit  who  is  going  to  the  place  of  his  execu- 
tion," he  wrote  General  Knox,  "  so  unwilling 
am  I  ...  to  quit  a  peaceful  abode  for  an  ocean 
of  difficulties  without  that  competency  of  poli- 
tical skill,  abilities,  and  inclination,  which  are 
necessary  to  manage  the  helm." 

From  the  moment  he  left  his  own  gates 
his  journey  was  well-nigh  a  continuous  ova- 
tion, his  neighbors  and  friends  escorting  him 
to  the  borders  of  Virginia,  and  each  hamlet, 
village,  and  town  through  which  he  passed 
welcoming  him  with  demonstrations  of  affec- 
tion. At  Trenton  the  citizens  had  erected  a 
triumphal  arch  over  the  old  bridge  across 
Assanpink  Creek,  where  he  had  fought  off 
Cornwallis's  attack,  and  as  he  passed  over  it 
his  way  was  strewn  with  flowers. 

On  April  23, 1789,  he  arrived  in  New  York, 
254 


PEACE  AND   PUBLIC   SERVICE 

being  rowed  across  the  bay  from  New  Jersey 
in  a  splendid  barge  manned  by  thirteen  pilots 
in  white  uniforms,  and  landing  at  the  foot  of 
[Wall  Street,  walked,  amid  the  cheers  and 
salutes  of  the  people,  to  the  residence  which 
had  been  prepared  for  him  near  what  is  novt 
known  as  Franklin  Square. 


CHAPTER   XXX 

THE   PRESIDENT 

For  a  week  Washington  remained  quietly 
in  New  York,  where  great  preparations  were 
being  made  for  installing  him  as  President. 
On  Wall  Street  a  fine  building,  known  as 
Federal  Hall,  had  been  erected  and  presented 
to  Congress,  and  here  the  inauguration  was  to 
take  place.  Those  who  feared  that  American 
liberty  would  be  endangered  by  the  observ- 
ance of  any  forms  whatsoever,  were  exceed- 
ingly critical  of  the  arrangements  made  for 
the  occasion,  but  it  was,  after  all,  a  very  simple 
ceremony  that  marked  the  inauguration  of  the 
first  President  of  the  United  States. 

Early  on  the  morning  of  April  30,  1789, 
the  bells  of  all  the  churches  summoned  the 
people  to  their  various  places  of  worship  for 
the  special  services  ordained  for  the  day,  and 
by  the  time  these  were  concluded  the  military 
and  civil  procession  was  already  moving  to- 

256 


THE    PRESIDENT 

ward  tlie  Franklin  house,  and  Wall  Street  and 
its  vicinity  were  crowded  with  a  dense  mass 
of  spectators.  Washington  left  his  residence 
shortly  after  twelve  o'clock,  but  so  great  was 
the  throng  in  the  streets  that  his  carriage  did 
not  reach  Federal  Hall  for  almost  an  hour, 
and  he  was  obliged  to  alight  some  little  dis- 
tance from  the  building  and  make  his  way  to 
it  on  foot,  passing  through  the  cheering  crowd 
between  a  double  line  of  troopers.  A  mo- 
ment's pause  followed,  and  then  he  appeared 
on  the  balcony  facing  Wall  and  Broad  Streets, 
and  behind  him  came  John  Adams,  Chancellor 
Livingstone,  Baron  Steuben,  General  Knox, 
and  other  distinguished  officers  and  officials. 
He  was  dressed  in  a  plain  brown-cloth  suit, 
with  metal  buttons  ornamented  with  eagles; 
his  stockings  were  white  silk  and  his  shoe 
buckles  silver;  at  his  side  he  carried  a  steel- 
hilted  dress  sword,  and  his  powdered  hair  was 
worn  in  a  queue. 

Never  did  any  man  receive  a  more  genuine 
and  heartfelt  welcome  than  that  which  greeted 
Washington  as  he  faced  the  mass  of  spectators, 
but  he  was  evidently  unprepared  for  the  mid 
outburst  with  which  he  was  acclaimed.  It  was 
at  once  a  roar  of  triumphant  thanksgiving,  a 

257 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

national  salute,  and  a  tribute  of  admiration 
and  affection,  and  visibly  affected  by  it,  lie 
stepped  back  for  a  moment  to  recover  his  com- 
posure. In  another  instant,  however,  he  re- 
appeared with  Chancellor  Livingstone  in  his 
official  robe,  and  Samuel  Otis,  the  Secretary 
of  the  Senate,  bearing  a  Bible  on  a  crimson 
cushion.  With  his  hand  upon  the  opened  book, 
he  then  took  the  prescribed  oath  to  maintain 
and  defend  the  Constitution,  and  almost  be- 
fore the  crowd  realized  that  the  ceremony  was 
taking  place,  a  crash  of  artillery  announced 
that  George  Washington  was  President  of  the 
United  States.  A  short  address  to  the  mem- 
bers of  Congress  followed,  and  then  the  new 
head  of  the  nation,  accompanied  by  the  Vice 
President,  the  Senators,  and  Representatives, 
walked  up  Broadway  to  St.  Paul's  Church, 
where  he  occupied  the  pew  which  still  bears 
his  initials  in  honor  of  his  presence  at  the 
services  on  that  day. 

Thus  ended  the  first  inaugural  ceremonies, 
which,  simple  as  they  were,  probably  caused 
Washington  more  embarrassment  than  he  had 
ever  previously  experienced,  for  no  man  had 
a  greater  dislike  of  display  than  he,  and  no 
one  ever  more  thoroughly  dreaded  making 

258 


THE    PRESIDENT 

a  public  exhibition  of  himself.  But  though 
his  personal  tastes  were  those  of  a  plain,  mod- 
est gentleman,  who  despised  notoriety  of  every 
kind,  he  had  no  intention  of  allowing  the 
Presidency  to  become  a  cheap  or  familiar 
office,  and  almost  his  first  official  act  was  to  de- 
vise, with  Hamilton  and  Madison,  simple  but 
proper  rules  to  maintain  his  dignity  as  the 
head  of  the  nation.  Of  this  came  the  regula- 
tions which  have,  with  slight  changes,  gov- 
erned the  etiquette  of  all  the  Presidents  since 
his  day.  In  this,  and  in  every  other  act  of  his, 
Washington  realized  that  he  was  establishing 
a  precedent,  which  would  profoundly  affect  the 
future  of  the  country,  and  with  this  idea  he 
worked  cautiously  but  steadily  to  uphold  the 
dignity  of  the  nation  and  win  respect  for  it 
from  both  friends  and  foes. 

The  scheme  of  government  laid  down  in 
the  Constitution  was  as  yet  untried,  but,  de- 
termining that  it  should  have  a  full  and  fair 
test,  he  chose  for  his  advisers  in  the  Cabinet 
only  those  who,  like  himself,  believed  in  the 
Constitution  and  wished  to  see  it  succeed.  To 
this  end  he  selected  Thomas  Jefferson  as  his 
Secretary  of  State,  General  Knox  for  the  Waif 
Department,  Edmund  Randolph  for  the  Attor 

259 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

ney-General,  and,  most  important  of  all,  Alex- 
ander Hamilton  for  head  of  the  Treasury,  and 
he  familiarized  himself  with  all  their  duties 
with  the  same  care  he  had  exercised  in  manag- 
ing his  private  affairs.  He  was  thus  not  merely 
nominally,  but  actually,  the  head  of  the  Gov- 
ernment who  made  it  his  business  to  know  all 
that  was  being  done  and  how  to  do  it,  and 
who  labored  with  unflagging  energy  to  mas- 
ter every  detail  of  the  work.  Hampered  at 
first  by  a  dangerous  illness  which,  for  a  time, 
seriously  threatened  his  life,  he  nevertheless 
resumed  his  task  at  the  earliest  possible  mo- 
ment, and  stuck  to  it  without  sparing  himself, 
and  with  no  thought  save  that  of  building  on  a 
firm  foundation  for  the  future  generations. 
To  familiarize  the  people  of  the  various 
States  with  the  existence  of  the  Federal  or  Na- 
tional Government,  he  made  a  long  tour 
through  New  England,  visiting  all  the  prin- 
cipal cities,  and  when  John  Hancock,  the  Gov- 
ernor of  Massachusetts,  attempted  to  assert  the 
supremacy  of  the  State  over  the  Federal  Gov- 
ernment by  forcing  the  President  to  pay  him 
the  first  official  visit,  Washington  courteously 
but  firmly  declined  to  dine  with  him,  and  Han- 
cock, realizing  his  mistake,  yielded,  and  at- 

260 


THE    PRESIDENT 

tended  in  person  at  the  President's  lodgings. 
This  was,  of  course,  a  trifling  matter,  but 
Washington  rightly  understood  its  impor- 
tance at  that  crisis.  If  any  one  of  the  States 
was  to  regard  itself  as  superior  in  dignity  to 
all  the  States  combined,  or,  in  other  words,  to 
the  nation  at  large,  there  would  be  an  end  to 
all  centralized  government,  and  the  United 
States  would  be  a  nation  only  in  the  name.  It 
was  for  this  reason  that  the  President  insisted 
on  the  etiquette  of  the  occasion,  and  his  treat- 
ment of  this  little  incident  went  far  to  estab- 
lish the  national  authority  at  a  critical  mo- 
ment. 

There  were  those  who  saw  dangers  to  lib- 
erty, however,  in  all  Washington's  efforts 
to  maintain  the  dignity  of  the  United  States, 
and  before  long  he  was  accused  of  being  an 
aristocrat  and  of  attempting  to  introduce  all 
the  pomp  and  ceremonies  of  the  monarchies  of 
the  Old  World.  But  at  these  criticisms  and 
complaints  Washington  only  smiled.  Pride  of 
office  had  no  charms  for  him.  He  had  a  settled 
purpose  to  make  the  nation  self-respecting 
as  well  as  respected,  and  if  the  loud-mouthed 
lovers  of  liberty  had  not  the  intelligence  to 
distinguish  between  official  decorum  and  per- 

261 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF,   WASHINGTON 

sonal  pretense,  it  would  be  folly  to  seek  the 
level  of  their  comprehension.  But  most  of 
the  people  did  not  require  either  explanation 
or  answer.  They  understood  the  quiet,  unas- 
suming man  of  common  sense,  who  steadily 
set  in  motion  one  wheel  after  another  of  the 
national  machinery,  and  maintained  a  firm 
controlling  hand,  which  neither  home  criti- 
cism nor  foreign  bullying  could  shake. 

Against  the  clamor  of  those  who  hated  Eng- 
land he  signed  a  treaty  with  the  mother  coun- 
try, waiving  many  minor  rights,  to  gain  tran- 
quillity and  a  recognized  place  among  the 
nations,  and  assumed  all  responsibility  for  the 
result;  against  the  pretensions  and  demands 
of  France  he  promptly  interposed  a  protest 
and,  when  that  country  hesitated  to  observe  a 
proper  attitude  toward  the  United  States,  he 
took  such  unmistakable  measures  to  make 
the  protest  effective,  that  all  attempts  at  bully- 
ing ceased;  against  the  discontented  Pennsyl- 
vanians,  who  undertook  to  override  the  laws 
of  Congress,  he  marched  an  army,  before 
which  the  mob  scattered  without  a  blow.  In 
other  words,  he  represented  the  nation  as  a 
whole  on  every  occasion  without  fear  or  favor, 
trusting  at  all  times  to  the  common  sense  of 

262 


THE   PRESIDENT 

his  fellow-countrymen,  and  with  a  clear  vision 
constantly  before  him  of  the  coming  greatness 
of  the  Government  he  was  upbuilding  for 
those  who  were  to  follow  him. 

At  the  end  of  his  first  term  he  hesitated 
long  and  anxiously  before  he  could  make  up 
his  mind  to  continue  in  office  for  another  four 
years.  All  his  personal  inclinations  urged 
him  to  retire  absolutely  to  private  life,  but  he 
accepted  the  unanimous  call  of  the  people  in 
1793,  and  settled  down  once  more  to  the  task 
which  had  already  taxed  his  strength  and  was 
steadily  wearing  him  down.  As  yet  there  was 
no  organized  party  opposed  to  him,  but,  as 
time  went  on,  the  foolish  criticisms  and  accu- 
sations which  had  at  first  amused  him  began 
to  take  a  more  serious  and  ugly  form,  and  they 
occasionally  aroused  him  to  great  bitterness 
and  wrath.  Despite  the  calmness  and  reserve 
which  he  had  acquired  through  years  of  ex- 
perience, Washington  was,  like>  most  honor- 
able men,  extremely  sensitive,  and  to  have  his 
actions  misinterpreted  and  his  motives  im- 
pugned hurt  him,  though  they  seldom  pro- 
voked him  to  answer.  It  is  well  for  Americans 
to  remember,  when  they  are  tempted  to  rash 
accusations  against  honorable  public  servants, 

263 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

that  Washington  was  at  one  time  driven  to 
exclaim  that  he  would  rather  be  in  his  grave 
than  suffer  the  treatment  he  received  at  the 
hands  of  those  he  was  doing  his  best  to  serve. 

During  all  these  years  he  had  kept  close 
watch  of  Mount  Vernon,  sending  minute  di- 
rections from  time  to  time  for  its  development, 
visiting  it  at  every  possible  opportunity,  and 
eagerly  looking  forward  to  the  day  when  he 
would  once  more  be  able  to  return  there,  re- 
lieved of  public  cares.  That  day  came  on 
March  4,  1797,  when  John  Adams  was  inaugu- 
rated as  his  successor.  But  it  was  not  the  new 
President  who  was  the  center  of  all  eyes  on 
that  occasion,  but  the  retiring  official,  and 
when  the  ceremonies  were  completed  and  he 
passed  from  the  Hall  of  Congress,  the  crowd, 
almost  forgetting  Adams,  followed  him  out 
into  the  street,  and  accompanied  him  with 
acclamations  of  affection  to  the  very  door  of 
his  house. 

Ten  days  later  Mount  Vernon  again  wel- 
comed its  master,  and  the  man  who  eight 
years  before  had  left  it  fearing  that  he  was 
not  equal  to  the  duties  to  which  he  had  been 
called,  returned  as  one  of  the  most  famous 
statesmen  of  the  world. 

264 


CHAPTER   XXXI 

MOUNT  VERNON 

A  few  days  before  Washington  started  for 
his  home  he  wrote  to  General  Knox  that  it  was 
unlikely  that  he  would  ever  be  farther  than 
twenty  miles  from  Mount  Vernon  during  the 
rest  of  his  life.  Twice  before,  he  had  been 
called  from  retirement,  but  this  time  he  saw 
no  possibility  of  anything  interfering  with  the 
peaceful  enjoyment  of  his  home  life,  and 
Mount  Vernon  never  had  greater  attractions 
for  him  than  it  presented  at  this  time.  True, 
the  buildings  had  fallen  somewhat  into  disre- 
pair during  his  absence,  and  there  was  much 
to  be  done  to  restore  the  plantation  to  the  con- 
dition in  which  he  had  left  it,  but  his  favorite 
adopted  grandchild,  Miss  Nellie  Custis,  a  girl 
of  great  beauty  and  charm,  and  Lafayette's 
young  son,  George  Washington  Lafayette,  ac- 
companied him  from  Philadelphia,  and  the 
presence  of  the  young  people  added  greatly  to 
the  joy  of  his  home-coming. 

265 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

But  if  lie  imagined  that  because  he  was  no 
longer  President  he  had  ceased  to  be  a  public 
man,  he  was  speedily  disillusioned,  for  visi- 
tors from  all  parts  of  the  country  nocked  to 
Mount  Vernon  in  far  greater  numbers  than 
ever  before,  so  that  the  house  practically  be- 
came "  a  well-resorted  inn."  All  sorts  and 
conditions  of  people  wrote  him,  some  send- 
ing him  presents,  others  asking  questions, 
others  requesting  materials  from  which  to 
write  his  life,  others  dedicating  books,  poems, 
and  songs  to  him,  or  asking  permission  to  do 
so,  and  generally  making  such  demands  on  his 
time  that  he  himself  declared  that  at  no  period 
of  his  life  had  he  been  more  engaged  than 
during  the  six  or  eight  months  immediately 
following  his  return.  Among  the  almost  count- 
less letters  addressed  to  him  about  this  time 
was  one  from  Joseph  Hopkinson,  inclosing  a 
copy  of  his  song,  "  Hail  Columbia,"  which 
may  fairly  be  said  to  have  been  the  first  Amer- 
ican national  anthem.  But  little  did  Wash- 
ington dream  that  the  enthusiasm  with  which 
it  was  received  throughout  the  land  was  the 
forerunner  of  another  message  calling  him 
again  to  the  country's  service. 

"  Hail  Columbia  "  was,  however,  first  sung 
266 


MOUNT    VERNON 

in  April,  1798,  at  a  time  when  the  feeling  be- 
tween the  United  States  and  France  was  ex- 
ceedingly bitter,  and  there  was  every  prospect 
of  war.  The  French  Revolution,  which  had 
driven  Lafayette  into  exile  and  had  resulted 
in  his  imprisonment  and  caused  his  son  to  seek 
refuge  with  Washington,  had  then  almost  run 
its  course,  and  young  Lafayette  had  already 
returned  to  France  to  greet  his  father;  but 
the  attitude  of  the  French  Government,  which 
had  long  been  offensive  toward  the  United 
States,  had  at  last  taken  such  form  as  to 
rouse  universal  indignation  in  America.  John 
Marshall,  Charles  Pinckney,  and  Elbridge 
Gerry,  the  American  envoys  who  had  been  sent 
to  arrange  a  treaty  with  France,  were  received 
with  marked  disrespect^  and  the  agents  of  the 
French  Government  finally  went  so  far  as  to 
demand  money  from  them  before  they  would 
consider  any  treaty  at  all.  Marshall  and 
Pinckney  accordingly  departed,  and  when 
their  report  of  what  had  happened  was  re- 
ceived the  whole  country  showed  a  resentment 
which  threatened  to  end  in  war.  It  was  at  this 
crisis  that  Pinckney  uttered  the  famous  phrase 
"  Millions  for  defense,  but  not  one  cent  for 
tribute!"     "Hail  Columbia  "  was  sung  by 

267 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

patriotic  throngs;  an  army  of  ten  thousand 
men  was  authorized  by  Congress,  and  the  su- 
preme command  was  offered  to  Washington, 
with  the  title  of  Lieutenant  General.  Wash- 
ington himself  did  not  believe  that  the  two 
countries  which  had  so  lately  professed  warm 
friendship  for  each  other  would  be  driven  to 
the  point  of  war,  but  he  saw  that  unless  the 
United  States  showed  itself  ready  to  defend 
its  honor  and  dignity,  it  would  lose  the  re- 
spect of  other  nations,  and  he  heartily  ap- 
proved of  prompt  and  vigorous  action. 

"At  the  epoch  of  my  retirement,"  he  wrote 
the  President, i '  an  invasion  of  these  States  by 
any  European  power,  or  even  the  probability 
of  such  an  event  happening  in  my  days,  was  so 
far  from  being  contemplated  by  me,  that  I  had 
no  conception  that  that,  or  any  other  occur- 
rence, would  arise  in  so  short  a  period  which 
could  turn  my  eyes  from  the  shade  of  Mount 
Vernon.  .  .  .  But  in  case  of  actual  invasion 
...  I  certainly  should  not  intrench  myself 
under  the  cover  of  age  and  retirement  if  my 
services  should  be  required  by  my  coun- 
try .  .  ." 

Thus,  at  the  age  of  sixty-six,  Washington 
once  more  found  himself  at  the  head  of  an 

268 


MOUNT    VERNON 

army,  actively  preparing  to  take  the  field,  with 
Alexander  Hamilton  as  his  second  in  com- 
mand, and  many  of  his  other  old  comrades 
flocking  to  his  side.  For  a  while  all  was  bustle 
and  excitement,  and  the  new  Lieutenant  Gen- 
eral was  soon  obliged  to  leave  Mount  Vernon 
and  make  Philadelphia  his  headquarters ;  but 
before  the  close  of  1799  all  fear  of  war  had  dis- 
appeared, and  Washington  once  more  laid 
aside  his  sword  and  returned  to  his  loved 
Mount  Vernon. 

Meanwhile  Miss  Nellie  Custis  had  become 
engaged  to  Lawrence  Lewis,  one  of  Washing- 
ton's favorite  nephews,  and  her  wedding  was 
fixed  for  February  22,  1799,  the  general's 
sixty-seventh  birthday.  At  first  Miss  Custis 
was  anxious  that  Washington  should  grace 
the  occasion  by  wearing  his  new  uniform  as 
Lieutenant  General,  but  when  he  shook  his 
head  and  appeared  in  the  buff  and  blue  in 
which  he  had  fought  the  Revolution,  the 
young  bride  threw  her  arms  about  his  neck 
and  declared  he  was  right  and  that  she  would 
rather  see  him  in  his  old  uniform  than  in  any 
other  dress. 

But  though  Washington  was  soon  relieved 
of  all  military  cares,  he  continued  to  be  busily 

269 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

engaged  on  all  sorts  of  work  from  morning  till 
night.  Not  the  least  important  of  the  many 
claims  upon  his  time  was  the  superintendence 
of  the  erection  of  the  public  buildings  in  the 
future  city  of  Washington,  or,  the  Federal 
City,  as  it  was  then  called.  At  that  time  it 
was  practically  nothing  but  a  spot  on  the  map, 
and  not  much  more  than  a  beginning  had  been 
made  upon  the  plans,  yet  Washington  saw  the 
future  National  Capital  as  plainly  as  he  fore- 
saw the  wonderfully  rapid  growth  and  expan- 
sion of  the  whole  United  States.  In  May,  1798, 
he  wrote:  "A  century  hence,  if  this  country 
keeps  united  (and  it  is  surely  its  policy  and  in- 
terest to  do  so),  it  will  produce  a  city,  though 
not  as  large  as  London,  yet  of  a  magnitude  in- 
ferior to  few  others  in  Europe,  on  the  banks 
of  the  Potomac,  where  one  is  now  establishing 
for  the  permanent  seat  of  Government  of  the 
United  States.' ' 

That  prophecy  has  been  more  than  ful- 
filled, and  there  is  many  another  prediction  of 
Washington's  which  Americans  can  read  with 
profit,  if  not  with  equal  satisfaction.  The 
master  of  Mount  Vernon  did  not,  however, 
allow  his  many  public  duties  to  detract  from 
his  interest  and  pride  in  his  plantations.    In 

270 


MOUNT    VERNON 

April,  1799,  he  began  a  careful  survey  of  his 
property,  doing  the  work  himself,  with  much 
the  same  keenness  as  he  had  displayed  in  his 
boyish  days,  when  he  had  first  made  rough 
drawings  of  its  fields.  Indeed,  he  continued 
this  work  at  odd  intervals  up  to  November, 
1799,  and  on  December  10th  of  that  year  he 
completed  a  plan  for  the  development  of  the 
plantation,  giving  minute  instructions  to  his 
manager  for  the  sowing  of  the  fields,  advising 
as  to  the  rotation  of  the  crops,  and  generally 
presenting  sufficient  details  for  carrying  on 
the  work  for  a  series  of  years.  Every  item 
of  this  document,  which  covered  fully  thirty 
pages,  displayed  all  the  thoroughness  and  pre- 
cision of  his  most  active  years,  and  the  loving 
care  which  he  bestowed  upon  it  shows  that 
the  preservation  and  maintenance  of  his  prop- 
erty were  among  the  dearest  wishes  of  his 
heart. 

The  day  after  he  finished  this  labor  of 
love  Lord  Fairfax,  the  successor  of  his  old 
friend  and  patron,  dined  with  him  at  Mount 
Vernon,  and  the  next  morning  he  started  out 
at  ten  o'clock  on  his  usual  inspection  of  the 
plantations,  remaining  in  the  saddle  until  late 
in  the  afternoon.     That  same  day  he  wrote 

271 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

Hamilton,  warmly  approving  his  plan  for  es- 
tablishing the  military  academy  which  was 
later  located  at  West  Point,  and  which  had 
been  the  subject  of  several  of  his  recommenda- 
tions to  Congress.  Friday,  December  13, 1799, 
brought  a  heavy  fall  of  snow,  which  prevented 
him  from  taking  his  usual  trip  on  horseback, 
but,  although  not  feeling  well,  he  spent  the 
afternoon  in  marking  some  trees  which  he 
wished  removed  for  the  improvement  of  the 
grounds  between  the  house  and  the  river,  and 
in  the  evening  he  made  the  same  careful  note 
of  the  weather  in  his  diary,  which  had  been 
his  daily  custom  for  some  years.  During  the 
night,  however,  he  was  suddenly  taken  ex- 
tremely ill  with  acute  laryngitis,  and  before 
long  he  became  convinced  that  he  could  not 
live.  Doctors  were  called  in  and  various  reme- 
dies were  tried,  but  without  avail.  Washing- 
ton's whole  thought  during  the  few  hours  that 
followed  was  to  make  no  complaint  and  try  to 
ease  the  anxiety  of  his  wife  and  friends.  "  I 
am  not  afraid  to  go,"  he  told  his  physician, 
and  as  his  secretary  sat  beside  him  holding 
his  hand,  he  withdrew  it  and  calmly  felt  his 
own  pulse.  Thus  bravely  and  serenely  Wash- 
ington passed  away,  and  so  quietly  did  the  end 

272 


MOUNT   VERNON 

come  that  those  watching  beside  him  scarcely 
realized  that  he  was  dead. 

Four  days  later  he  was  buried  in  the  fam- 
ily vault,  only  a  short  distance  from  the  house, 
on  the  slope  overlooking  the  majestic  river 
which  had  gladdened  his  eyes  for  so  many 
years.  Only  a  few  neighbors  and  friends,  and 
a  small  company  of  soldiers  and  local  officials 
attended  the  funeral,  which  was  marked  by 
the  simplicity  and  modesty  which  had  always 
honored  the  man.  Out  on  the  river  a  schooner 
fired  a  solemn  salute  of  minute  guns,  and  can- 
non on  the  shore  boomed  reply;  the  troops 
marched  past  the  house,  followed  by  the  Gen- 
eral's horse  bridled  and  saddled,  bearing  hol- 
sters and  pistols  and  led  by  two  grooms  in 
black,  and  behind  them  Washington's  body, 
carried  by  officers  and  Freemasons,  was  borne 
to  its  final  rest. 

Thus  ended  the  career  of  the  man  who,  in 
addition  to  his  other  distinctions,  is  fairly  en- 
titled to  that  of  being  the  first  American.  The 
fact  that  he  was  the  descendant  of  an  ancient 
English  family  and  was  reared  in  English  tra- 
ditions, does  not,  as  more  than  one  distin- 
guished writer  has  observed,  in  any  way  de- 
tract from  his  Americanism.    He  was  among 

273 


ON    THE    TRAIL    OF    WASHINGTON 

the  first  to  recognize  and  appreciate  the  genius 
of  the  people  of  this  country,  and  to  compre- 
hend the  possibilities  that  lay  within  them,  and 
to  the  development  of  those  possibilities  and 
the  cultivation  of  that  genius  he  was  intensely, 
unswervingly  loyal.  What  American  has  a 
higher  or  a  better  claim  to  patriotism  than 
this?    X 

Washington  was  not  a  brilliant  man;  he 
was  not  scholarly  or  profound ;  he  was  not  even 
particularly  gifted.  But  he  was  industrious 
without  being  a  slave  to  work;  he  was  thor- 
ough to  a  fault ;  he  had  a  deep  appreciation  of 
honor,  the  courage  and  manliness  to  live  true 
to  his  highest  thought,  and  the  broad-minded- 
ness to  compromise  with  those  who  differed 
with  him  where  anything  but  honor  and  prin- 
ciple were  concerned.  He  was  not  a  genius, 
but  he  was  a  master  of  common  sense ;  he  was 
not  an  impossible  hero,  but  he  was  a  severely 
tested  human  being  who  conquered  himself; 
he  was  not  the  greatest  soldier  that  the  world 
has  ever  seen,  but  he  was  certainly  the  most 
unselfish  and  probably  the  most  successful 
statesman  known  to  history. 

It  is  for  these  human  qualities,  revealing 
the  possibilities  that  lie  with  us  all,  that  Wash- 

274 


MOUNT   VERNON 

ington  is  honored  throughout  the  world.  It  is 
in  recognition  of  this  that  each  State  in  this 
mighty  Union,  and  many  of  the  nations  of  the 
earth,  contributed  a  stone  to  the  majestic  shaft 
that  forms  his  monument  to-day.  It  is  for  re- 
membrance of  this  that  America  has  preserved 
Mount  Vernon,  where  the  presence  of  the  man 
is  felt  and  his  spirit  breathes  an  inspiring  ben* 
ediction  over  the  land  he  loved.  .;* 


AUTHOEITlES 

The  following  are  a  few  of  the  authorities 
relied  upon  in  the  text: 

"  Writings  of  Washington,"  in  fourteen  volumes  (ed- 
ited by  Worthington  C.  Ford)  ;  Washington's  "  Journal 
While  Surveying  for  Lord  Fairfax "  (edited  by  J.  M. 
Toner) ;  Washington's  "  Journal  on  a  Tour  to  Barbadoes  " 
(edited  by  J.  M.  Toner);  Washington's  "Journal  While 
Commanding  a  Detachment  of  Virginia  Troops  in  1754  " 
(edited  by  J.  M.  Toner) ;  "  Washington's  Orderly 
Books";  "Barons  of  the  Potomac"  (Conway);  "Wash- 
ington's Eules  of  Civility"  (Conway);  "  Braddock's 
Eoad  "  (Hulbert) ;  "Washington's  Eoad  "  (the  first  chap- 
ter in  the  old  French  war)  (Hulbert)  ;  "  The  Apprentice- 
ship of  Washington"  (Hodges);  "The  Private  Soldier 
under  Washington"  (Bolton);  "Battles  of  Trenton  and 
Princeton"  (Stryker) ;  "The  Marquis  de  Lafayette  in  the 
American  Eevolution"  (Tower);  "Valley  Forge  Or- 
derly Book "  (Weedon) ;  "  Battle  of  Brandy  wine " 
(Stone);  "The  Yorktown  Campaign"  (Johnston); 
"American  Eevolution"  (Fiske)  ;  "The  American  Eevo- 
lution" (Trevelyan)  ;  "Narrative  and  Critical  History  of 
America"  (Winsor)  ;  "Life  of  George  Washington"  (W. 
C.  Ford);  "Life  of  Washington"  (Irving);  "Life  of 
Washington"  (Marshall);  "Life  of  Washington" 
(Lodge);  "The  True  George  Washington"  (P.  L. 
Ford) ;  "  The  Seven  Ages  of  Washington "  (Wister)  ; 
"  The  Americanism  of  Washington  "  (Van  Dyck) ;  "  The 
First  American:  His  Homes  and  Households"  (Her- 
bert) ;  "Confederation  and  the  Constitution"  (McLaugh- 
lin) ;  "Life  of  Alexander  Hamilton"  (Oliver);  "Wash- 
ington after  the  Eevolution  "  (Baker)  ;  "  General  Greene  " 
(F.  V.  Greene);  "Life  of  Philip  Schuyler"  (Tucker- 
man);  "Henry  Knox"  (Brooks). 

276 

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